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Old Scituate 




published by 
Chief Justice Gushing Chapter 
Daughters of the American Revolution ^ TKeL^uL^^cJiCa^Cttv , 
1921 



C 



.6 3P I g 



Copyright, 1921 

BY 

Chief Justice Gushing Chapter 
Daughters of the American Revolution 




EARXSHAW PRESS CORPORATION 
BOSTON, MASS. 



AUG-8'21 

0)CI.A617901 






<r 



- K 



ForeAvord 

rHE contents of this volume represent, in part, 
the historical papers collected by Chief Justice 
Cashing Chapter D. k. R. during the past fifteen 
years. In preparing them for publication, the committee 
has found it necessary to omit much genealogical data, 
in order to make use of more historical facts which mark 
the milestones along the "ways" of the town's history. 

The idea of putting the collection in book form 
originated in the mind of our founder and first Regent, 
Ella Turner Bates, whose enthusiasm and perseverance 
have led us to complete the thought so dear to her heart. 

We wish to express our appreciation for the assistance 
that many who are not Chapter members have given us. 
In this connection we would mention the late Jedediah 
Dwelley, author of "Dwelley's History of Hanover;" 
William Gould Vinal, instructor in Nature Study in the 
Rhode Island State Normal School; Lieut. -Col. L. 
Vernon Briggs, U. S. A., author of "Shipbuilding on the 
North River;" Nelson M. Stetson, secretary of the 
Stetson Kindred of America; Dr. Oliver H. Howe; 
E. Pomeroy Collier; Mrs. Mary Carr Stillwell; Samuel F. 
Wilkins; the late Charles Otis Ellms, and others. 

There has been no attempt to present a history of the 
old town of Scituate, or to make this volume a comple- 
ment of Deane's history, published in 1831. We present 
its contents, arranged in no especial chronological order, 
to those who may be interested in the story of the ancient 
town. 

In collecting photographs tor the illustrations, the 
committee has aimed to secure, when possible, early 
pictures that show the ancient houses as they looked in 
the past. 

Scituate's territory in 1656 was very large, for it 
included all the land granted to the original settlement, 
and in addition that of the Conihasset Grant ot 1637, 
and the later one to Mr. Hatherlv. 



The town lost much of its extensive territory in 
1727, when the new town of Hanover was incorpo- 
rated, and in 1788, the Two Mile was annexed to 
Marshfield. During the last century two changes in ter- 
ritorial bounds were made. In 1823, a part of Scituate 
near the "Gulph" was annexed to Cohasset, and again, in 
1840, the line was re-established and straightened, and a 
part of each town annexed to the other. 

The last division was made February 14, 1849, when 
the south part of the town petitioned to be set off, and 
incorporated as the town of South Scituate. In 1888, 
that name was changed to Norwell, for Henry Norwell, 
of Boston, a summer resident, whose wife was of well- 
known Scituate ancestry. 

The reasons for the division are not clearly understood 
at the present day, except by inference, but at the time 
of the division, Scituate's chief interests were her farms 
and her fishing industry. There were no summer resi- 
dents at her beaches to swell her valuation, and the 
shore property was then of little intrinsic value, except 
for the kelp cast up by the surf. This highly valued 
product of the sea was the cause of much interesting 
litigation in years past. 

South Scituate's shipbuilding industry was decidedly 
on the wane in 1849, but the desire to maintain her own 
roads and schools may have been a dominant factor in 
bringing about the division. It is remembered that 
South Scituate was thought at the time to have got the 
better of the bargain, as the Town Hall, then at 
Sherman's Corner, and the Town Farm in South Scituate 
Village fell to her share. We now realize that Scituate 
was the fortunate partner of the contract, her then 
undeveloped shore property having become her greatest 
asset. 



Table of Contents 



PAGE 

The Early Settlement . . . . 1 

Mary L. F. Power 

Indl\n Raid of 1676 . . . . 7 

Mary L. F. Power 

Cornet Robert Stetson . . . .15 

Nelson M. Stetson 

Mann Hill . . . . .23 

Charles Otis Ellms 

Early Industries . . . . .27 

Ella Turner Bates 

The Vassalls at Belle House Neck . . 30 

Mary L. F. Power 

The "Family OF Judges" . . .35 

Mary L. F. Power 

Post Roads and Taverns . . .58 

Mary L. F. Power 

An Ancient Colonial Boundary . . 69 

Oliver H. Howe, M. D. 

The Quakers in Scituate . . .72 

Mary L. F. Power 

The Acadians . . . . .78 

Arr. from article by Hon. Jedediah Dwelley 

Seventeenth Century Houses . . .84 

Chapter Members 

Eighteenth Century Houses . . . 112 

Chapter Members 



The Old Lighthouse at Scituate Harbor 
Mary Emerson Walbach 

North River, and Shipbuilding on Its Banks 
L. Vernon Briggs, M. D. 



Navigation 



Ella Turner Bates 



Church History: 



First Parish Church 

Ella Turner Bates 

The Second Church of Christ in Scituate, 
Now^ THE First Parish Church of 

NORWELL 

Mary L. F. Power 

St. Andrew's Church. Arr. from History 
The Rev. Wm. Brooks, D. D. 

The Universalist Church, Assinippi 
John F. Simmons 

The Methodist Episcopal Church . 
Harriet Marshall Welch 

Trinitarian Congregational Church 
Julietta Hunt 

First Baptist Church, North Scituate 
Sarah Bailey 

Methodist Episcopal Church at Church 
Hill . . . . . 

Melvin M. Little 

Roman Catholic Church 

Mary A. Doherty 

SWEDENBORGIAN ChaPEL 

Chapel at Sherman's Corner 

Clara Sherman Hersev 



PAGE 

143 
147 
159 

162 

169 
176 
182 
186 
192 
195 

200 

202 

207 
208 



Seaside Chapel, North Scituate Beach 



208 



PAGE 

Mills . . . . . .210 

Mary L. F. Power 

Early Poets ..... 223 

Carrie K. Kellogg 

Early Artists ..... 226 
Marion C. Alexander 

Mossing . . . . . .229 

Ella Turner Bates 

The Past Geography of Scituate, Massachu- 
setts ...... 231 

William Gould Vinal 

Memorable Storms .... 239 

Samuel F. Wilkins and others 

The Humane Society of Massachusetts . 244 

Harriet Marshall Welch 

Wrecks on Scituate's Shore . . . 245 

Harriet Marshall Welch 

Town Seals ..... 262 

Communion Silver of the First Parish Church, 

Scituate ..... 264 

An Interesting Bill of Sale . . . 265 

Scituate Soldiers and Sailors of the x^merican 

Revolution ..... 266 
Clara Turner Bates 

Index . . . . . .277 



The Early Settlement 



HE shores of Massachusetts 
Bay, both above and below 
Plymouth, were visited by 
the Pilgrims very soon after 
the settlement was made, and 
desirable locations for fur- 
ther settlement were noted. 
Timothy Hatherly came to 
Plymouth in the ship Ann 
in 1623, and was one of the 
number that was impressed 
with the natural advantages 
of the territory around the 
four cliffs, the harbor, and the 
North River, which, as a high- 
way into the interior, afforded 
an approach to the extensive 
forests of pine and white oak 
that abounded in this sec- 
tion. Successful fisheries and 
a lucrative trade with the 
natives and with the Dutch were anticipated, and these 
necessitated a safe and convenient place to build the 
vessels to carry on these industries. The section around 
"Satuit" was adaptable for these purposes. 

Hatherly was one of the "Merchant Adventurers" who 
had financed the first Mayflower company. He came to 
Plymouth to see for himself the probable success or fail- 
ure of the venture. If his partners were greatly concerned 
about their investment, it seems hardly possible that 
Hatherly agreed with them after his first visit of two 
years, for he returned to England in 1625 with some 

The above is a Monument to the "Men of Kent," in first burying- 
ground, on Meeting-house Lane. 

(1) 




2 THE EARLY SETTLEMENT 

expectation, it appears, that large grants of land could 
be secured from the colony that would prove of great 
value. Soon after his return to England, he sent his 
nephew, Edward Foster, a lawyer, to the colony, to 
look, after his interests, and keep him informed of 
affairs in Plymouth during his absence. 

Hatherly's expectations seemed in a fair way to be 
realized in 1633, when the Colony Court ordered "that 
the whole tract of land between the brook at Scituate on 
the N. W. side and Conihasset, be left undisposed of, till 
we know the resolution of Mr. James Shirley, Mr. John 
Beauchamp, Mr. Richard Andrews, and Mr. Timothy 
Hatherly." Hatherly returned in 1632, but the tract 
was not granted to the above-named gentlemen until 
1637. It extended from high water mark in Satuit Brook 
three miles up into the woods. In 1654 and 1656, other 
extensive grants were added to the original one, until the 
lands granted to the partners embraced not only a large 
part of the o.iginal town of Scituate before its division, 
but a large part of the towns of Hanover and Rockland. 
These grants were known as the "Conihasset Grants." 
Before 1646, Hatherly had purchased the interests of his 
partners, and formed a stock company, consisting of 
twenty-six persons, many of them settlers upon the 
lands, who called themselves the "Conihasset Partners." 

Before 1628, the "Men of Kent," as the first settlers in 
Scituate have been called, made some kind of a settle- 
ment at Satuit. The earliest record bears date of 1628, 
conveying land from Henry Merritt to Nathaniel Tilden: 
"All that land which I had of Gootiman Byrd, lying 
within the fence at the north end of the third cliffe, unto 
the land of Nathaniel Tilden." (Col. Rec.) There is a 
tradition in the Turner family that Humphrey Turner 
owned his farm east of Colman Hills in 1626, although 
he resided in Plymouth until 1633. If it is true that land 
was assigned Turner in 1626, it is probable that the first 
owners of the Third Cliff lots received theirs as early. 
Nathaniel Tilden is said to have had a farm at Satuit 



THE EARLY SETTLEMENT 3 

in 1626, of which his Third Cliff lots may have formed 
the whole or a part. 

County Kent, England, has been noted in history for 
the loyalty, gallantry, and courtly manners of its men. 
The majority of the first settlers were from that county, 
and they attracted to their venture others of the same 
type from Devonshire and Loncion, like Hatherly, Foster, 
and Vassall. The name "Men of Kent" has been applied 
to the entire group, implying that they were a company 
of the best class of English gentlemen of their day; men 
of education, many of them college graduates, and of 
considerable fortune, who had been accustomed to such 
refinements and elegancies as English life of their period 
afforded. Deane goes so far as to say, in 1831, that "In 
1639, this town contained more men of distinguished 
talents and fair fortune, than it has contained at any 
period since." It was then the most populous settlement 
in the colony. Plymouth had suffered because of re- 
movals to other places. Emigrations from Scituate had 
not as yet begun, and there was some prospect of its 
being made the seat of government. 

In 1633, the first village was laid out along Kent 
Street. Its houses were built of logs, and roofed with 
thatch from the neighboring marshes. Litchfield, in his 
"Litchfield Family in America," says: "When Rev. John 
Lothrop came (Sept., 1633), he found at Scituate 
friends whom he had known in England. They had 
built at the time nine 'pallizado houses,' probably 
structures made of logs protected by pallissades, as 
temporary residences, which were replaced later by more 
substantial homes. In 1635-6 there were 31 houses 
built, and in 1637, there was a total of 51." All of these 
were log houses, as there was no sawmill until 1640. 

During the summer of 1633, six lots along Kent Street, 
beginning at Satuit Brook, were apportioned in the 
following order: to Edward Foster, William Gillson, 
Henry Rowley, Humphrey Turner, Henry Cobb, and 
Anthony Annable. They began erecting houses at once. 



4 THE EARLY SETTLEMENT 

and at the same time a meeting-house on what is known 
as Meeting-house Lane, leading from Kent Street west 
to the common lands. By the time Mr. Lothrop ar- 
rived, the meeting-house had been built and "exercised 
in" by Mr. Saxton. Other settlers arrived the following 
spring, and were allotted lands that extended around 
the hills to the mouth of the First Herring Brook at "the 
green bush." By the time Mr. Lothrop arrived, all lots 
bordering on Kent Street had been assigned, and a farm 
for the minister laid out adjoining Turner's, the Cole farm 
of today. In 1634, Robert Stetson ascended the North 
River four miles into the wilderness, and built a home 
on a large grant of land allotted him by the Colony Court. 
He was the pioneer settler of South Scituate. 

By 1636, Mr. Hatherly applied to the court for more 
land for settlement, saying the place was already "too 
straite for them." His own negotiation for land north 
of the brook had not been completed. Settlers were 
taking up lands on this tract without orders from the 
court, with whom he would have to make settlement if 
his land project succeeded, and he wished to find ter- 
ritory in another direction, fertile and well situated, 
that would attract settlers away from Conihasset for a 
time. Mr. Vassall had been granted about 200 acres on 
the river, and other grants were made of the so-called 
"greate lottes" on the north side of the river from 
Vassall's to Stetson's. These river lots were desirable 
ones, because of the marsh hay, then the best forage 
that they had for their cattle. On the south side of the 
river were more extensive meadow lands, not yet allotteci 
to any township. In 1637, a tract two miles long and one 
mile wide along the river was granteei Scituate by the 
court. The "Two Miles," known to the present time 
by that name, was a part of Scituate until 1788. The 
people in general belonged to the Second Parish, and the 
Oakmans and Cushings attended there until a com- 
paratively recent date. 



THE EARLY SETTLEMENT 




Courtesy of C. B. Webster Co. 



"Stretch wide, O Marshes, in your golden joy! 
Stretch ample, Marshes, in serene delight! 

I am standing under Pilgrim shades 

Far off where Scituate lapses to the sea." 

— ''Seaward," Richard Hovey. 



In 1642, the town boundaries included all the terri- 
tory on the north side of the North and Indian Head 
rivers to the Indian Head Pond in Hanson; thence to a 
Hne running straight across country to Accord Pond, 
and from this point to the sea, according to the line laid 
out by the commissioners of the two colonies in 1640; 
and the Two Mile tract allotted in 1637. To this large 
tract was added, in 1656, the nine square miles, now a 
part of Hanover and Rockland, granted to Hatherly to 
reimburse him for making settlement with the squatters 
upon Conihasset. 

Mr. Lothrop and members of his church from London 
arrived in September, 1634. (See "Church History.") By 
their removal to Barnstable in 1639, the population of 



6 THE EARLY SETTLEMENT 

the town was materially decreased. It is said that 
nearly half the inhabitants departed. At this juncture 
Mr. Hatherly purchased the properties of all who wished 
to depart, and could not otherwise have done so. By 
the wise use of his fortune he carried the town safely 
through this critical period. He has rightfully been 
called the "Father of Scituate," for he was always ready 
to make use of his large fortune for the good of the 
settlement. 

New settlers came in considerable numbers during the 
ten years after 1640. Roads, bridges, ferries, and mills 
were built, and the town prospered until the devastating 
Indian War, notwithstanding there was an emigration 
to York in 1650, one to Barbadoes in 1658, and in 
1670 to Rehoboth and Swansey. 

After the close of King Philip's War, settlers came 
in rapidly, and occupied the outlying lands, which now 
could be cultivated with a feeling of security. Large 
and substantial frame houses were built, several of them 
now standing. Most of the well-to-do settlers were 
interested in a profitable coasting trade, and one with 
Jamaica and Europe, established as early as 1646. Cap- 
tain Travere, in the ship William, began a trade with the 
natives on the Hudson River in 1633, but there is no 
record of his further activities at Scituate. Captain 
Collamore and the Wantons sent out vessels from the 
North River before 1670. The fisheries also contributed 
largely toward the prosperity of the town. These en- 
terprises created the shipbuilding industry, by far the 
most important mechanical industry the town has ever 
known. The first mill for grinding corn, and the first 
sawmill in the colony, were erected before 1640. By 
reason of the early advantage taken of her natural 
resources, Scituate soon became the most progressive 
of the South Shore towns. 




View on North River 



Indian Raid of 1676 

THE most thrilling episode of the town's history is 
the Indian raid of 1676. The trouble with the 
Pequots in Connecticut in 1637 had affected Plymouth 
Colony very slightly, for upon the appeal of the Con- 
necticut settlements, Captain Standish, with a volunteer 
force, marched to their assistance, although they arrived 
too late to be of service. Henry Ewell, of Scituate, 
whose wife was the heroine of the '76 raid, was one of 
Standish's men. 

Military companies had been formed in the towns of 
Plymouth, Duxbury, and Marshfield as early as 1642, 
but because of the exodus to Barnstable, in 1639, Scituate 
was not made a "military discipline" until 1652, when the 
first company was formed, with James Cudworth as 
captain. It was as much for protection against the 
Dutch at Manhattan, as fear of Indian uprisings, that 
brought about the measure. Plymouth Colony had 
treated the Indians fairly, paid for all lands acquired, 

(7) 



8 INDIAN RAID OF 1676 

and by treaties with Chief Massasoit had been able to 
maintain peace until after that chieftain's death; but his 
son, Philip, and the Narragansetts would not fulfill the 
treaties, and for some years before 1675 it was foreseen 
that an uprising would come sooner or later. 

The first engagement in which Scituate troops took 
active part was the "Great Swamp Fight," in December, 
1675. The weather was extremely cold, the snow deep, 
and the Plymouth troops, though victorious, suffered 
great hardships. The Narragansett fort was destroyed, 
and at least 1,100 Indians slain. Scituate had twenty 
men in this battle, led by Capt. Michael Peirce, who 
returned unharmed to lose his life a few months later 
near Pawtucket. Sergt. Theophilus Wetherell, son of 
the Rev. William, was desperately wounded, likewise 
John Wright, Joseph Turner, and William Perry. John 
Vinal, at a later date, was released from military duty 
because of having served in the Narragansett fight. 

In the early spring of 1676, the Narragansetts began 
depredations in Rhode Island and in the outlying parts 
of Plymouth. When the alarm was sent out, Capt. 
Peirce was ordered to pursue them with a company of 
fifty men, and twenty Cape Cod Indians friendly to the 
whites. They followed the Indians, without once en- 
countering them, to the vicinity of Pawtucket, where 
Canonchett had gathered a large force. Knowing noth- 
ing of the numbers of the enemy, Capt. Peirce crossed 
the river and attacked. He soon discovered that he 
could neither advance, nor retreat in orderly fashion, 
but by falling back to the river's bank might hold his 
ground long enough to make the attack a costly one for 
the Indians. Canonchett sent a large force across the 
river from a point above, to attack from the rear. Capt. 
Peirce then placed his men back to back, and they 
fought bravely until nearly every man was slain. Capt. 
Peirce fell early in the fray, but a few survivors, by 
various subterfuges, escaped to tell of the bravery of the 
little band. Scituate had eighteen men in the company, 



INDIAN RAID OF 1676 




The "Elbow," near Block. House 



and of this number fifteen were slain, most of them heads 
of families. Thomas Man returned sorely wounded, the 
only survivor whose name is known. 

Scarcely had the news of the massacre reached home, 
when a call was received tor a quota of fifty men from 
Scituate, to assemble at Plymouth on the 11th of April. 
At least four garrison houses, each with a force of twelve 
to fifteen men, had been established in various places 
for the safety of the settlers. One at John Williams' 
house, overlooking the harbor, a second at John 
Stockbridge's, beside the mills at Greenbush, for their 
defense, which was considered a vital necessity; the third 
was a "block house" of logs, at the beautiful "elbow" of 
the river just above Union Bridge. This block house was 
beside the old Indian path along the river bank, used by 
the Matakeesetts in passing from their settlement at the 
Indian Ponds in Pembroke to the shore for hunting and 
fishing. It stood in a small field, known today as the 
"block house field," north of the old "block house ship- 
yard." The fourth garrison was at William Barstow's 
house, which stood about half way between the Third 
Herring Brook and Hanover's "Four Corners," at the 



10 INDIAN RAID OF 1676 

top of the hill on the east side of the road. There is a 
tradition that the old Rogers house in the "Two Mile," 
now the residence of Dr. Nelson, was a garrison house, 
and there are some features of its construction that 
suggest such a use. With a force of twelve in each gar- 
rison, at least fifty men were needed for home protection, 
and had Scituate sent its quota at the time appointed, 
the town would have been left at the mercy of the 
savages, for on the 21st of April a large body of Indians 
made a raid on Scituate, bvit were bravely repulsed by 
the inhabitants. Just a month later, on May 20th, 
another attack was made, and with more success. When 
the day was over, about half the homes in the south 
section of the town had been burned, and several settlers 
killed and wounded. 

Hingham had been attacked on May 19th, several 
houses burned, and John Jacob, of Glad Tiding Plain, 
killed. The next morning they advanced over the old 
Massachusetts trail to that section of Hanover long 
known as "Drinkwater," at that time a part of Scituate. 
Here Cornet Robert Stetson had built a sawmill, ante- 
dating his other mill on the Third Herring Brook by 
several years. The fury of the Indians was especially 
directed to the mills. It may be because they were 
lovers of nature, and the destruction of the beautiful 
primeval forests, still used by them as hunting-grounds, 
although sold to the white men, was a source of resent- 
ment. It can hardly be expected that they understood 
the meaning of a deed of conveyance, or conceived the 
fact that their fine hunting-grounds might disappear 
before the axes of the settlers; but they must have 
reasoned that the destruction of the mills meant that 
the advance of the English would be delayed. 

After burning the mill at Drinkwater, they proceeded 
to destroy that other mill built by the Cornet on the 
Third Herring Brook. The garrison at Barstow's had 
been reinforced by fourteen men from the Two Mile, 
and they avoided this position as they advanced, so that 



INDIAN RAID OF 1676 11 

the garrison saw only a scattered band which attempted 
to carry off a few horses and cattle. The mill on the 
brook at "Old Pond" was burned. This mill was never 
rebuilt, but traces of the old dam were discovered by 
the late Samuel Tolman, Esq., less than fifty years ago. 
After destroying the mill they burned two houses as 
they passed along down river: that of Joseph Sylvester, 
which stood on the site of the Waterman house, itself 
burned a few years ago, when owned by Capt. Edward 
Dixon; also the house of Robert Stetson, Jr., son of the 
Cornet, which probably stood on some part of the large 
grant made to his father in 1634, as nearly all of his sons 
settled around him on this property. Passing down the 
river by the old Matakeesett path, other houses were 
avoided, probably left to be destroyed on the return, 
after making the assault upon the garrison and mills at 
Stockbridge's. These were the homes of Cornet Stetson, 
Solomon Lincoln, William Brooks, William Curtis, 
Edward Wanton, and John Bryant, the last near the 
block house at the bend of the river. Another unsuc- 
cessful attempt was made to carry the block house, and 
John James, whose home was quite near it, was mortally 
wounded, and died a few weeks later. 

Failing in their attempt upon the block house, they 
burned the home of William Blackmore, which stood on, 
or near, the site of "The May Elms." Blackmore, him- 
self, had been killed in the April raid in the defense of his 
home. The next houses in their path were William 
Parker's and the hut of Nicholas Albeson, the "Sweede," 
on Parker's Lane, and Edward Wright's house, once 
Thomas Rawlins'. These houses were burned, but that 
of John Winter, on the site of Henry Ford's, at "Stony 
Brook Farm," was unmolested. Passing to the north 
after leaving Wright's, the Indians avoided the settle- 
ment between the Second Society's meeting-house and 
the river, and burned the homes of John Curtis and John 
Bumpas at Curtis, or Buttonwood Hill, and those of 
James Torrey, Widow Torrey, and John Buck, west of 



12 INDIAN RAID OF 1676 

Walnut Tree Hill. Henry Ewell's home was at the foot 
of Walnut Tree Hill, on the south, where a house now 
owned by John Wetherbee stands. In the house, on the 
morning of the raid, were Ewell's wife and her infant 
grandson, John Northey, the latter asleep in his cradle. 
Mrs. Ewell was busily employed with her week's baking, 
her loaves of bread ready for the oven; while placing 
them there, she heard the war-whoops of the Indians 
coming over the hill, her first indication of trouble. 
Thoroughly alarmed, she ran toward the garrison at 
Stockbridge's, forgetting, in her fright, the sleeping child. 
After warning the garrison of the approach of the Indians, 
she remembered the forgotten child, and by a circuitous 
route returned to find her home unharmed, the baby 
unawakened, and the only evidence of the Indians' visit, 
in the partly baked loaves pulled from the oven. Some- 
time later in the day the house was burned, as well as 
those of Sergeant Abram Sutliffe and Thomas Wood- 
worth, both near at hand. 

The assault on the mill and garrison at Stockbridge's 
was a determined one. Besides the garrison house, the 
mills were further defended by an out-work where the 
blacksmith shop now stands. The main position of the 
large Indian force was on the location of the W^ater 
Company's plant beside the pond. The fight lasted 
several hours, resulting in heavy losses to the Indians. 
Isaac Chittenden was killed, his the only name 
recorded of loss to the settlers at this place. The Indians 
were not dispersed until night fell, after all the remaining 
settlers had been gathered by Lieut. Buck from below, 
and by Cornet Stetson from the south section of the 
town, for the reinforcement of the garrison. 

In the Hinckley papers, a letter from Gov. Josiah 
Winslow, bearing date of May 23, 1676, criticizes the 
inactivity of Scituate in not sending its quota of fifty 
men to Plymouth on the 11th of the month. The ap- 
palling disaster to Capt. Peirce and his company in 
December, the two raids on the town in April and May, 



INDIAN RAID OF 1676 



13 



and the additional fact that twenty Scituate men, under 
Capt. Williams, were scouring the woods around 
Plymouth, is an answer to the criticism; while the letter 
having been written two days after the raid, shows that 
Gov. Winslow was unaware of the weak and desperate 
condition of the town when it was written. 

After a short interval, Scituate was actively engaged 
in the pursuit of the Indians. Gen. Cudworth assumed 
command of the united forces of the colony; Lieut. Buck, 
and his brother Cornet John, were in uninterrupted serv- 
ice; Cornet Stetson is said to have been constantly on 
horseback attending to various duties, and giving aid and 
counsel. The following July, Capt. John Williams, whose 
company was chiefly composed of Scituate men, followed 
Philip to Mt. Hope, R. I., and commanded the right 
wing of the forces. The death of Philip, at Mt. Hope, 
brought the war in Massachusetts to an end, although 
fighting was carried on for nearly two years more in 
New Hampshire and Maine. 




Stockbridge Mill Pond and House on Sn e of 
Garrison House 



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Cornet Robert Stetson 

THE career of Robert Stetson, of Scituate, the veteran 
"Cornet of the Troopers," is one of the most unique 
in the annals of Plymouth Colony, and the elements of 
romantic adventure running through his whole life 
appeal to everyone. In 1634, he made his appearance 
in Scituate, and soon after was granted a large tract of 
land on the banks of North River, where he built his 
rude home and reared his large family — but how and 
whence he came is still a mystery. So far as can be 
discovered, no other pioneer had established himself 
here at this early date, and it is believed that Robert 
Stetson was the first settler within the territory now 
known as Norwell. 

We are told that he "was only a Cornet," that he 
"couldn't even write his name." Now if this be true — 
and there seems to be no evidence that it is not — is it 
not remarkable that he should have been chosen re- 
peatedly to represent Scituate, at that time the wealthiest 
and most populous town in the colony (Plymouth not 
excepted), as their deputy to the Colony Court, and 
always with, or alternately with, such men as Gen. 
Cudworth, Lieut. James Torrey, and John Cushing, who 
were among the best-educated men in Scituate, or in 
the colony? Certain it is, that they shared the honor 
with the unlettered "Cornet of the Troopers" until 
he had served the town in this capacity for seventeen 
years — more than twice as long as any other deputy 
from Scituate. We must infer from this that he was a 
man of unusual ability, and that he had the confidence 
of the "freemen" of Scituate. As long as Cornet Stetson 
lived, he was — possibly with one exception — the only 
deputy chosen to represent at the Colony Court that 
part of Scituate now known as Norwell, Hanover, and 
the "Two Mile." 

(15) 



16 CORNET ROBERT STETSON 

We do not know that the Cornet was connected with 
any church previous to the establishment of the Second 
Church in Scituate, but Rev. Wm. Wetherell, its first 
minister, having been ordained the previous month, 
baptized on October 6, 1645, the Cornet's three older 
sons. From that day to this, there has been no time 
when a considerable number of the Cornet's descendants 
were not prominently connected with this old church. 

Cornet Stetson served on Scituate's first board of 
selectmen, and was continuously in the service of the 
town and colony. In 1653, he was chosen "foreman of 
the jury" that laid out many of the earlier roads, among 
these the "Countrey Road," from North River Bridge to 
Hingham, and the "Town Way," through the "Four 
Corners" to the Harbor. He was often employed by 
the colony in its dealings with the Indians, in the 
laying out of lands, and in the adjustment of perplexing 
situations. 

We find him on the Colony Records constantly serving 
on important commissions with Maj. Josias Winslow, 
Colony Treasurer Constant Southworth, Maj. Wm. 
Bradford, Gen. Cudworth, and others, but have only 
space to mention briefly some of the most important 
instances. In 1655, Josias Winslow, Sr. (brother of 
Gov. Edward), Maj. Josias Winslow, Jr., Thomas 
Hinckley (later Governor), Mr. Wm. Clarke, and Cornet 
Stetson were appointed a committee "to regulate the 
disorders of the Gov'ment," and to "treat and conclude 
about settling of the trad att Kennebecke which was 
much interrupted by reason of trouble amongst the 
Indians." Later, this committee met with the (then) 
"farmers of the trad," /. e., "Gov'r Prence, Mistris i\llice 
Bradford Sen'r (the Governor's widow), Capt. Thomas 
Willet (a wealthy partner from Mass.), and Maj. Josias 
Winslow," to settle these difficulties. The next year 
(1660), Maj. Winslow, Capt. Thos. Southworth (Governor 
of Kennebecke Plantation), "The Treasurer," Cornet 
Stetson, and Josias Winslow, Sr., were "empowered to 



CORNET ROBERT STETSON 17 

act tor the Countrey in all matters relating to the trad 
at Kennebecke." In 1663, "Cornet Studson" was 
appointed by the court "to accompany the treasurer 
in demanding and receiving the moneys due to the 
Countrey from the purchasers of Kennebecke," and for 
his trouble in settling the affairs of the troublesome 
Kennebecke Plantation, the Cornet received 200 acres 
of land in Drinkwater. 

Previous to 1664, several unsuccessful attempts had 
been made to establish the boundary line between Plym- 
outh Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony. This 
was permanently established in 1664 by a commission 
from Massachusetts Bay, and Maj. Josias Winslow 
(later Governor), Capt. Constant Southworth (Colony 
Treasurer), and Cornet Stetson of Plymouth Colony. 

In 1668, Cornet Stetson was commissioned by the Col- 
ony Court to purchase of Sachem Wampatucke (in his 
deed to the Cornet he takes his father's name, and 
styles himself Josias Chicatabutt, Sachem of Mata- 
keesett) a six-mile tract, called by the Indians "Nan-u- 
mack-e-uitt," and afterwards known as the "Cornet's 
Purchase." This was south of the Hatherly grant, and 
now forms a part of Hanover, Rockland, Whitman, and 
Hanson. This locality is now known as Drinkwater. 
Mr. Barry, in his "History of Hanover," tells of the legend 
that the name Drinkwater was derived from the fact 
that no strong drink was used in raising the early mill, 
but we are fully convinced that Drinkwafer is simply the 
literal translation of the Indian name ^^Nanumackeuitt." 
Over seven hundred acres of this tract eventually 
became the property of Cornet Stetson. 

Inducements were early offered by the town of 

Scituate to anyone who would build a mill on the Third 

Herring Brook, and in 1656 the following was recorded 

in the Scitviate Records: 

"We whose names are underwritten doe testifye that we were 
with Robert Studson att worke the ninth ot February, 1656, to 
provide Timber to build the sawmill that the said Robert Studson 
hath built." 



18 CORNET ROBERT STETSON 

This record was signed with the marks of Josepth 
Wormall, John Hudson, and Josepth Bearstow. 

It is a fact not generally known, that at some time 
previous to January, 1674 — possibly as early as 1657 — 
Cornet Stetson also built a mill "at or near Indian Head 
River," for the Colony Court Records show that in 1674 
Cornet Stetson recovered £3 10s from one Thomas Joy, 
of Hingham, "for saying and repeating since January 
last past that the sawmill of Cornet Robert Studson, 
which standeth in Plymouth Collonie neare Scituate, 
standeth upon his, the said Joy's land . . . whereby 
the said Studson comes to be greatly damnified." Fifty- 
four years later, in 1727, the town of Hanover was in- 
corporated embracing the site of this mill. 

This plant, known as "Drinkwater Mill," was much 
more extensive than that on the Third Herring Brook, 
and the Cornet sold it in 1680 for "300£ currant silver 
money" to four enterprising colonists, viz., "Ralph 
Powel of Marshfield, planter, Chas. Stockbridge of 
Scituate, millwright, Isaac Barker of Duxborough, 
planter, and Robert Barker of Duxborough, planter." 
We have not space here for these deeds, but copies of 
the deed of Nanumackeuitt to Cornet Stetson by Wam- 
patucke in 1668, Thomas Joy's gift deed from Wampa- 
tuck in 1668, the verdict for the Cornet against Thos. 
Joy in 1674, and the Cornet's deed of the mill to the 
freemen in 1680, may all be seen in "Stetson Kindred 
of America," Vol. 5. 

We have spoken of this mill at length, as we believe it 
of much importance in connection with the early history 
of Scituate and Hanover, and none of the local historians 
thus far seem to have had any definite knowledge of it. 
We also believe its establishment previous to 1674 
antedates by many years any other business enterprise 
within the present limits of Hanover. 

In 1656, the Colony Court, realizing that the horsemen 
of the various towns should be organized for the pro- 
tection of the colony, ordered raised a "troop of horse." 



CORNET ROBKRT STETSON 19 

Gov. Bradford's son William was made Captain, Gov. 
Prence's son-in-law, John Freeman, was made Lieu- 
tenant, and Robert Stetson, Cornet. This troop at once 
became the most valuable company in the colony. 

Many years afterwards, before the breaking out of 
King Philip's War, Major (afterwards Governor) 
Josiah Winslow, and Gov. Bradford's two step-sons — 
/. e.^ Capt. Thomas Southworth and Colony Treasurer 
Constant Southworth — were chosen commissioners to 
visit Philip at Mt. Hope — "to beard the lion in his 
den," and if possible turn him from his purpose of 
exterminating the colonists. Cornet Stetson and the 
troopers were sent with this commission, and although 
the Cornet was well past his prime, evidently he still 
led the troopers. The following, from the Colony Records, 
we believe to be the only official record ot this expedition: 

"To Captaine Southworth for his paines and time forty shillings. 

"To the treasurer respecting his long time and paines three pounds. 

"To Cornet Robert Studson his horse time and paines forty 
shillings. 

"Two shillings and sixpense a day is allowed unto the troopers to 
each of them that went on the abovesaid expedition, viz.; to each 
of them and his horse." (Col. Rec.) 

Although a Captain is supposed to outrank a Cornet, we 
note that the Cornet and Captain Southworth received 
the same compensation. 

Cornet Stetson was a member of the "Council of War" 
for a period of over twenty years, including King Philip's 
War. Rev. Samuel Deane, the historian, was ordained 
over the Second Church of Scituate more than one hun- 
dred years ago; he was a conscientious student of local 
history, and at a time when traditions were of much 
value, he wrote: "During Philip's War, the veteran 
Cornet Stetson was constantly on horseback, either in 
making voluntary expeditions with Gen. Cudworth 
(as tradition asserts) or in returning to encourage the 
garrisons at home, or in guiding the Council of War." 

W^e well remember our youthful conception of Cornet 
Stetson, /. ^., a valiant horseman mounting a fierce 



CORNET ROBERT STETSON 21 

steed, a sort ot knight errant who roamed the forest, 
seeking adventures with the Indians. Of course we 
subsequently came to know that most of his dealings 
with the Indians were oi a peaceful nature; nevertheless 
we can at least think of him as a sturdy horseman, for 
his home was a long way from his mills, the church, 
and the harbor, and his constant service as deputy to 
Plymouth, commissioner, and Cornet of the troopers, 
must have kept him constantly in the forest, often with 
no companion save his faithful horse. 

In 1847, Rev. John Stetson Barry wrote the "Records 
of the Stetson Family." A revised edition of this work is 
now in preparation, hence any extended account of the 
Cornet's family is unnecessary. His family consisted of 
seven boys and two girls, — Joseph, Benjamin, Thomas, 
Samuel, John, Eunice, Lois, Robert, and Timothy. 
Seven of these survived, married, settled near the old 
homestead, and reared large families. We would like 
to tell of these children and their homes — of the part 
they took in the affairs of Scituate, of their many dis- 
tinguished descendants in all parts of the country, 
who have a kindly interest in Scituate as the early home 
of their ancestors, but for lack of room this is impossible. 

The once prosperous settlement that surrounded the 
Cornet's old home by the river has been gradually 
changing all these years, until now the locality is fast 
approaching the primeval state in which the Cornet 
found it, nearly three centuries ago. To the north, 
evidences of the homestead of Sergt. Humphrey Johnson 
(1651) have entirely disappeared — the garden spot 
now grown a forest, the site, even, known only to the few. 
To the south, where were the homes of Capt. Benjamin, 
and David Bryant, and "the shipyard at Bald Hill," 
nature again has full possession. Following the uplands 
near the edge of the meadows, half a mile back from the 
nearest town way, much overgrown and hardly dis- 
tinguishable, is the ancient road that connected these 
homesteads. 



22 CORNET ROBERT STETSON 

Nearly three hundred years have passed since Robert 
Stetson and Honor encamped on the banks of North 
River, and the name Stetson is now extinct in the 
towns of Norwell and Scituate; yet incredible though it 
seems, it is nevertheless true, as the vital records will 
demonstrate, that more than half of the inhabitants of 
Norwell, even today, are descendants of this ancient 
couple. 

Cornet Stetson died in the year 1702-03, at the age of 
ninety years, having lived for sixty-eight years in Scituate, 
during which time he was unquestionably the leading citizen 
of the south part of Scituate, now known as Norwell; for it 
will be remembered that Mr. Hatherly, Gen. Cudworth, 
James Torrey, and John Gushing all lived in the north 
part of the town. 

A society of Cornet Stetson's descendants, known as 
the "Stetson Kindred of America," has been organized, 
with Francis Lynde Stetson, of New York City, as 
President, and the late John B. Stetson, of Philadelphia, 
as Vice-president. These gentlemen purchased and 
presented to the organization the Cornet's old homestead 
and forty-six acres of the original farm, although the 
original house was demolished more than one hundred 
and fifty years ago. Here at the "shrine," the home of 
their ancestor, his descendants from all parts of the 
country meet annually, drink from the "Cornet's 
spring," and spend a day on the spot where 283 years 
ago Robert Stetson first brought Honor, his wife, built 
his rude home, and laid the foundation of the Stetson 
family of America, and the town of South Scituate (now 
Norwell). 



Mann Hill 

RICHARD MAN came with his wife, Rebecca, from 
England about 1644. He took the "oath of fidel- 
itie" in Scituate, January 15, 1644. Deane says, in the 
"History of Scituate," that Richard Man came in the 
Mayflower in the family of Elder Brewster; but it has 
been proved that this is incorrect, and that his name 
was confused with that of Richard More, but we know 
that he was one of the Conihasset Partners in 1646. 

When Timothy Hatherly divided the Conihasset Grant 
among the twenty-six partners, Richard Man was one 
of them. In the Colony Records under date of Novem- 
ber 15, 1655, Richard Man was one of twelve men 

"impanelled and sworn to looke on the body of the daughter of 
William Pakes by appointment of me, Timothy Hatherly." "We 
find William Pakes his well to be very dangerous as both in that it 
lyes at the foot of a hill as also having noe fence aboute it to preserve 
a child from shooting or tumbling in — so the child tumbling or 
falling in the water was the cause of the death of Thankful Pakes." 

"They whose names are underwritten were panelled on a quest of 
enquiry about the death of Richard Man, by me Timothy Hatherly. 
Sworne, Matthew Briggs, William Pakes, Ensign John Williams, 
Jonathan Whitcomb, Sergeant Gilbert Brooks, Thomas Ensign, 
Jeremy Hatch, Stephen Vinal, Rodolphus Ellms, Robert Whitcomb, 
Gowin White, John Hoar." 

Par-Verdict 

"Wee find that by coming over the pond from his owne house 
towards the farms that he brake through the iyce and was in soe deep 
that he could not get out and by reason ot the cold o\ the weather 
and the water made him unable to healp himself, neither could any 
other psent aford him any healp that could healp him out, though 
they used their best endeavor for the space of about an hour as is 
reported to us by the witnesses that saw him, at which time he died. 
This was found to bee the cause of his death as wee all judge." 

"The Court further ordered Mr. Hatherly to inquire into the 
estate of Richard Man, late deceased att Scituate March 5, 1655, 
the widow made application to administer the estate. Granted 
May 6, following Apprisal April 14, 1655. 

"1 dwelling house & barn & 43 acres of upland, 13 acres of marsh 
& 1 share of Conihasset land, 2 oxen, 1 heifer, 2 steers, 3 yearlings, 
3 bu. barley & 36 bu. wheat, 1 pair shoes, 1 bu. Malt, 1 bed, 2 old 
blankets, 1 rugg, 1 warming pan, 2 spinning wheels, 1 iron kittle, 
1 iron pot, 1 iron skillet, 2 frying pans, 1 little kittle, 1 skillet, 1 pr. of 
tongues, 1 cradle, 2 old pitchforks, & 1 pr. cards, a bible & other 

(23) 



24 MANN HILL 

books, 1 plow, 2 ax, 2 hammers & hoe, 2 pieces bacon, small shot gun, 
4 old chairs, & pr. of ballences, 1 Sabbath short coat. (All valued at 
about $75.) Appraisers James Cudworth & Walter Briggs. May 6, 
1656, Rebecca Man, wife of Richard Man, deceased, doth give her 
3 youngest children to each of them 5 pounds & Cap. Cudworth 
standeth bound to see the same performed out of the estate of sd. 
Richard Man." (Plym. Col. Rec.) 

Rebecca Man, widow of Richard Man, married John 
Cowen the last of March, 1656, and they lived in Richard 
Man's house till 1670. (Plym. Col. Rec.) John Cowen 
is said to have been from Scotland; he bought lands in 
Conihasset north of Sweet Swamp, now the Peirce farm, 
and his house stood where the old Warren and Stephen 
Litchfield house stood until it was bought and moved by 
Mrs. Lucy Peirce Nichols. 

In 1671, John Cowen was indicted at court by Governor 
Prence for speaking contemptible words against the 
royal dignity of England in that "hee said hee scorned 
to bee in subjection to any Englishman & that there 
never was any a king England but one crooked backed 
Richard, — a crooked rogue just like 'such an one' that 
he names, — viz. a crooked man well-known in the town 
of Scituate." The case was tried and the jury brought in 
not guilty. 

Richard Man was a farmer, and his neighbor on the 
south was John Hoar, who early removed to Concord, 
and was the ancestor of the great men of that name in 
that town. Richard Man's farm was bounded east by 
the ocean and on the north by Musquashcut Pond, while 
still farther north were the "Farms," so called. 

In 1670, Nathaniel Man, eldest son of Richard, sued 
his father-in-law, John Cowen, before the selectmen of 
Scituate, for "using & improving his house & lands" with- 
out his order. He was given 89 shillings damages. He 
appealed to "His Majestie's Court," but the appeal was 
not pleaded. It is evident he received the house, since in 
1680 Nathaniel Man made over his estate to his brothers, 
Thomas and Richard, Thomas having signed a bond for 
the support of Nathaniel on account of infirm health. 



MANN HILL 25 

July 21, 1688, Nathaniel Man died suddenly. The 
verdict was: 

"We doe find that the sd. Nathaniel Man hath formerly been 
troubled with fitts his falling sickness & sometimes hath been dis- 
tracted & out of his witts heretofore & on the 19th of July at evening 
at the house of his brother Thomas Man at Conihasset in Scituate 
aforesaid grievously distracted or Lunatized & in a raging manner 
so continued till break of day & then ran out of the house & tore his 
clothes off & ran away in the said distracted frame & on the 20th 
inst. was found in the searf of the sea between high water mark & 
low water mark amongst a body of Rocks lying against Little Pond 
& was dead that he running amongst the sd. Rocks they being very 
slippery did fall upon some of them & wounded his head whereof 
he died." 

Thomas Man, second son of Richard, was the only 
survivor whose name is known of the ill-fated company 
of Capt. Michael Peirce annihilated at Attleboro Gore, 
near Pawtucket, in King Philip's War. 

Priscilla Man, a granddaughter of the original Richard, 

was a well-educated teacher, familiarly called "Marm 

Mann." Her penmanship, of which specimens still 

exist, was of great excellence. Here is an extract from a 

letter of hers to her niece, a daughter of Ensign Man: 

"A constant correspondence with your father was of use to me; 
he was my monitor; — he bid me beware the intrigues of the world, 
— to cautiously retain my own secrets." 

About matrimony she wrote: 

"I ever had a niceness in my choice and could as soon have 
ceased to live as to have married a man in whose character or conduct 
I discovered material detects. I early resolved upon a single life. 
My occupation gave me an unwished for foreknowledge of the 
married world. Thus much for my being single. I would advise all 
girls who marry, to look for partners of steady habits, good tempers, 
prudence, and a sense of the moral obligations of religion." 

In a letter to her brother Ensign, who was a Tory, 

she says, June 25, 1814: 

"Your British friends have landed at Scituate Harbor, burnt and 
carried off the vessels, — we have frequent alarms but your good 
governor [Caleb Strong, a classmate of Ensign's at Harvard College] 
can't spare any cannon for fortifying, so the artillery and soldiers 
turn out when called for. If the pious Old Gentleman don't act a 
little more like a man, his Tory friends will get mad at him. One 
of the redhot Tories at the Harbor was the greatest loser. His loss 
was estimated at $5,000, and we find they flinch when property is 
touched y«J/ like other folks. I know how little you will relish this 



26 MANN HILL 

letter, but in brotherly kindness you will pass it over, since my 
scolding will do neither good nor hurt to your favorites." 

Another letter, in 1820: 

"I board at Perez Jacobs', son ot David Jacobs, and have made 
It my residence for three years past in the old mansion house that 
used to be a tavern. I am handy to the meeting when I choose to 
attend." 

She began to teach at the age of sixteen and taught 
fifty years, part of the time at Assinippi. She used to say 
that all she knew about cooking was to spread her own 
bread and butter. Her independence of character is 
illustrated by the changing of the spelling of her name 
from Man to Mann. She wrote deeds, conveyances, and 
contracts. She was large and tall, very stout, and good- 
looking, and could converse on any subject. She was a 
member of the Universalist Church of Assinippi, and 
Father Ballou, as he was called from being one of the 
fathers of the Universalist denomination, said of her: 
"She was a superior woman, she had few equals and no 
superiors." She died at Assinippi, formerly West 
Scituate, in 1831, at the age of 84, and was buried in the 
cemetery there. By her own request, no gravestone has 
been placed over her grave. 



Early Industries 

INDUSTRIES in the early days were limited to the 
necessities of existence, as human brains evolved 
substitutes for the supplies of the old countries. Farm- 
ing on a small scale, hunting wild animals for food and 
skins, and fishing were the first employments. There 
were skilled men among the colonists who, with the 
energy of the race to which they belonged, began at once 
to utilize the materials at hand for comfort and con- 
venience. Money being almost unknown after their 
arrival here, their wants were in a measure supplied by 
an exchange of surplus commodities called "barter," a 
custom kept up to this day by a few families in country 
towns who exchange eggs, wood, butter, and vegetables 
for groceries at the nearest store. 

One of the first needs of the colonists was clothing, and 
the furs of such animals as could be obtained were soon 
made into garments — ^ caps, hoods, and capes. Many 
of the colonists had knowledge of spinning and weaving 
— looms were set up, and "fullers" of cloth built mills 
for fulling and making the cloth fit for clothing. x'\mong 
the first to do this was George Lewis, 1634, but it is not 
known that he started a mill. James Torrey started, in 
1653, a fulling mill on First Herring Brook, a short dis- 
tance above the Stedman mill on the ponci, the first 
clothing mill in the colony. In 1690, it was the property 
of Capt. Samuel Clap, and Capt. John Clap owned it in 
1750, when it was spoken of as a "grist and fulling mill." 

Thomas Ingham, a weaver, lived on the south side of 
Stockbridge's mill pond in 1640. In 1663, according to 
the Colony Records, he was "presented" at the Colony 
Court "for retaining yarn from those who brought it to 
be woven," but at the trial he was cleared. He and his 
wife were notorious as being accused of witchcraft, and 
having bewitched Mehitabel Woodworth. The offense 

(27) 



28 EARLY INDUSTRIES 

was not proven. Thomas Chittenden, 1633, is also 
called a weaver. Spinning and weaving were largely 
home industries for more than two hundred years after 
the first settlement. In the eighteenth century, wool 
and flax were produced in large quantities, and the 
houses were filled with the prodvicts of the hand looms. 
Towels, napkins, and sheets were made of the flax after 
the finest patterns; also large table-cloths, which were 
finished with fine fringe; while woolen sheets were much 
needed in the cold houses, as well as woolen garments, 
which included the striped blankets so commonly worn 
over the shoulders and heads of our grandmothers. 
Then there were the blue and white, or brown and white, 
bedquilts — the warp of linen, and the woof of home- 
dyed wool. The beautiful patterns were often heirlooms, 
handed down from mother to daughter, and probably 
brought with them from their English homes. 

Warm shoes for the feet were necessary in the severe 
winters, and from the skins of the wild animals shot by 
the hunters for food and for protection came the ma- 
terial for their manufacture. To make use of these skins 
a tanner was needed, and here was Humphrey Turner, 
an English tanner, who erected a tannery on his farm 
east of Colman's Hills, traces of which have been found 
very recently. This was started as early as 1636. His 
son John Turner, the first to settle on North River, 
started a tannery there, on an "island" near the river 
bank, where his house was located. 

Capt. Benjamin Tolman was a tanner, and his tannery 
was northeast of Church Hill, on "Tannery Brook," so 
called, about 1700. His son-in-law Joseph Copeland 
succeeded him in his house and tannery, and was in his 
turn succeeded by his son Ebenezer Copeland, who 
married the widow of Thomas Waterman. Ebenezer 
Copeland's daughter Huldah married James Waterman, 
who in his turn conducted the tannery. The house built 
by Captain Tolman is now standing, and was owned until 
a recent date by Ebenezer C. Waterman, son of James. 



EARLY INDUSTRIES 29 

Capt. Stephen Otis left by will, in 1729, to his son 
Ensign, "Tan House and Tan Pits" situated near home 
of Captain Stephen. 

As late as 1825 to 1830, Nathaniel Turner had a 
tannery on the east side of the road at the foot of Brushy 
Hill, on a small brook known as the "Tan Brook." It 
was not built by Turner, but it was sold by him to 
Luther Curtis, and discontinued in 1840. 

Cooking utensils and household dishes were un- 
doubtedly very rare in the settlement, as there were only 
those brought on the first ships. The colonists were 
familiar with wooden dishes, and many were turned by 
the turyiers in England. Whether the Turners of Scituate 
turned dishes is not reported, but the first Charles 
Turner had spoon moulds, in which were moulded the 
pewter spoons used by the family. One of these moulds 
was presented to the New England Historic Genealogical 
Society by Hon. Samuel Adams Turner. 

The only pottery mentioned in Scituate was estab- 
lished in 1730 by an Irishman named John Neil, on 
the south side of Wild Cat Hill. At a later period he had 
a pottery on the north side of Studley Hill. He removed 
to Maine in 1760. 

The first places where it is known that bricks were 
made were: at the west of Colman's Hills; at Church Hill, 
near John Palmer's; in 1700, near Henchman's Corner; in 
1770, southwest of Cordwood Hill, later known as George 
Torrey's Hill; on the west side of Hoop Pole Hill, and on 
the west side of Mt. Blue. In 1820, the Jacobs and 
CoUamores manufactured them extensively on the south 
side of Jacobs Pond. This was probably the last place 
where bricks were made within the limits of the town. 



The Vassalls at Belle House Neck 

No fairer view of hill and dale, of river, forest, and 
ocean, can be found than that from the hills on the 
Marshfield and Scituate sides of North River, near 
Little's Bridge. The removal of Colman Hills, the 
"high hills" of the early records, gradual at first, but 
now showing rapid progress, is taking much of the 
beauty from the view looking from Marshfield, as well 
as destroying some historic sites, for it was around the 
southern side of the hills that a portion of the early 
settlement was made. 

Mr. William Vassall was among the number who came 
into Scituate in 1634 anti 1635, although he was not a 
member of Mr. Lothrop's church. He was a man ot 
considerable fortune, and of some importance both in 
England and in the Massachusetts Colony. A most 
beautiful tract of land on the river was granted him, by 
far the largest tract allotted to any one settler. It con- 
tained more than 150 acres, and Vassall began at once 
his plantation, which he called "West Newland." The 
house that he built in 1635 upon the beautiful slope of 
upland, commanding a glorious view of the rising sun 
across green meadows, was named "Belle House," the 
"house beautiful." It deserved its name most truly, 
from its outlook. 

William and Samuel Vassall were original patentees 
of New England lands. They were sons of John Vassall, 
an alderman of London, a man of great wealth, who in 
1588 fitted out and commanded two vessels which he 
gave to the British Navy, to help oppose the Spanish 
Armada. William and Samuel were officers of the Massa- 
chusetts Company in London. It is said that Samuel, 
at one time, was the owner ot the Mayflower. His 
monument in King's Chapel, Boston, was erected in 
1766 by his great-grandson. He never came to New 
England, but removed early to Barbadoes. 

(30) 



THE VASSALLS AT BELLE HOUSE NECK 31 

William Vassall was one of Craddock's assistants, at 
the time that he was made acting governor of the 
Massachusetts Company in London, and John Endicott 
had been sent to govern affairs on this side. His first 
direct knowledge of Massachusetts lands was in 1630, 
when he came to New England with John Winthrop, 
returning to London in the ship Lyon in 1631. He 
was on this side of the Atlantic when complaints were 
made by the colonists against Endicott's government, 
and the settlers chose him and his brother Samuel as 
their referees to present their petition to Craddock in 
England. He must have been favorably impressed by 
the probable future ot the colonies, for he returned in 
June, 1635, embarking with his wite and six children in 
the ship Blessing, with the intention of making a 
home in the new lands toward the west. Leaving his 
family in Roxbury, he erected his home upon his new 
plantation, "West Newland," the year of his arrival. 
He found Scituate a home greatly to his liking, and 
became a member of Mr. Lothrop's church. While 
there was more or less controversy in the church during 
the next three or four years, Mr. Vassall seems to have 
taken little active part in it. He was a well educated 
man, and had thought deeply on matters that were 
causing religious disagreement both in England and in 
the colonies. 

When the Reverend Charles Chauncey was settled 
as Mr. Lothrop's successor in 1641, Mr. Vassall soon 
found himself in great disfavor with his new pastor, 
who would endure no opposition to views that he felt 
his talents and learning should make acceptable to his 
parishioners without too much questioning on their part. 
Mr. Vassall's powers of persuasive argument may have 
been quite as much a factor in his disfavor as the ideas 
that he entertained, for he was quite the equal of his 
new pastor in religious argument, and cirew to his 
opinions many other church members, as well as a 
number of new settlers who were taking up lands upon 



32 THE VASSALLS AT BELLE HOUSE NECK 

the river. The "Second Church of Christ" in Scituate 
was formed in Vassall's house on February 2, 1642. 

WilHam Vassall had much to do with public affairs 
in the town. The earliest records extant are in his 
beautiful handwriting, and that of Edward Foster, as 
no town clerk was appointed until 1636. He held no 
office in the Colonial Government, perhaps by dis- 
inclination, but more likely because his opinions, 
both religious and social, were greatly in advance of his 
time. In this relation, Deane says: "It is worthy of 
remark, that most of the principles held by such men as 
Cudworth, Hatherly, Vassall and Roger Williams, for 
which they suffered the persecutions of the early Colonial 
Governments, were such principles of civil and religious 
liberty as are now recognized to be the truest and best." 

Once embroiled in controversy, Mr. Vassall's argu- 
mentative disposition kept him in more or less trouble 
for the next few years. He espoused the cause of the 
people of Hingham in their protest against a decision 
of the court relative to their choice of a captain of the 
town militia, and in 1646 was sent to England as one 
of their emissaries to present this protest to the govern- 
ment there. He met with no success on his errand, and 
finding himself out of sympathy with colonial leaders, 
joined his brother Samuel in Barbadoes, in 1648, without 
returning to Scituate. He died in the Parish of St. 
Michael's in 1655, leaving a will in which his son, Capt. 
John Vassall, was named executor. 

His daughter Judith married Resolved White, of the 
first Mayflower company, in 1640. That year a grant of 
100 acres of marsh and upland on the southeast side ot 
Belle House Neck was maeie to White by order of the 
court. They resided on this tract until 1662, the year 
of the sale of the Vassall estate, and then removed to 
Marshfield, near his brother Peregrine, on the South River. 

Frances Vassall married James Adams, 1646, whose 
mother, widow of John Adams, of the Fortune (1621), 
had married Kenelm Winslow. James Adams' farm 



THE VASSALLS AT BELLE HOUSE NECK 33 

was upon the Marshfield side of the river, at or near 
that of the late Enos Stoddard. Mention is found of 
another daughter, name not given, who married Nicholas 
Ware in Virginia. They had removed to Barbadoes 
before her father's death, in 1655, and Ware's name is 
connected with the sale of the Belle House Neck property. 

Capt. John Vassall, son of William, removed to Boston 
about 1652 or 1653, where he became a householder. He 
sold his Boston home, and went with a company of 
settlers to Cape Fear, North Carolina. The settlement 
came to dire straits, and in 1657 Capt. Vassall applied 
to the Massachusetts Colony for relief to be sent to 
himself and his followers. He had not returned to Massa- 
chusetts in 1662, if he ever did so. Capt. John was born 
about 1625. He bore arms in Scituate in 1643, at the 
age of eighteen, and in 1652 was a lieutenant under 
Cudworth. While he remained in Scituate, although a 
young man, he was associated in town affairs with such 
men as John Hoar and John Saffin, as selectmen, or 
"overseers." By reason of his absence in 1655, at his 
father's death, his brother-in-law, Nicholas Ware, of 
Barbadoes, with the consent of the other heirs, appointed 
Capt. Joshua Hubbard, of Hingham, attorney for the 
sale of the Scituate estate. In 1662, Hubbard conveyed 
120 acres, with house and barns, to "John Cushen and 
Mathyas Briggs" for iJ^120. No one bearing the Vassall 
name remained in Scituate, unless the ancestry of 
Benjamin Vassall, now untraced, can be traced back to 
som.e son ot William. Benjamin was born in 1742, and 
was brought up in the family of a Mr. Vinal, in Scituate. 
In early life he learned the trade of cabinet maker, and 
later removed to Charlton, Mass. Benjamin Vassall* 
was a soldier of the Revolution from Scituate. 

After Jamaica was taken by the British, the Vassalls 
made large fortunes in Barbadoes. The family life in 
St. Michael's was one of lavish magnificence, combined 
with the crudest service. English visitors were shocked 
by the attire of the negro servants, who waited on 



34 THE VASSALLS AT BELLE HOUSE NECK 

tables loaded with silver plate, in the scantiest of cloth- 
ing, and that often in tatters. 

There were many Vassalls living in and around Boston 
at the time of the Revolution. They were descendants 
of Samuel, and not of his brother William, as conjectured 
by Deane. Capt. Leonard Vassall, whose fine estate on 
Summer Street on the site ot Hovey's store extended to 
Chauncy Street, was a grandson of Samuel, and was the 
builder of the Adams house, near President's Bridge, 
at Quincy. Capt. Leonard's son, Col. John, was the 
builder of the Craigie-Longfellow house at Cambridge. 
Another son, Henry Vassall, married Penelope Royall, 
of the Royall House, in Medford. William Vassall, third 
son of Col. John, was the builder of the famous Gardiner- 
Greene mansion on Pemberton Hill, Boston, demolished 
in 1835. Another son, John, married Elizabeth Oliver, 
and lived on the "Elmwood" estate in Cambridge. 

All the Vassalls were Loyalists, and fled the country 
with the British forces when Boston was evacuated. 
Their properties were confiscated and sold, and some ot 
them died in poverty. Thomas Coffin Amory, in "A 
Boston of the Olden Time," says: "Numerous descend- 
ants of Leonard Vassall by female lines remain among 
us, distinguished by ancestral traits. But the name has 
for the most part perished, unless where perpetuated in 
the line of sable dependants, who had assumed that 
of their masters, as was customary in days when one 
man could be bondsman to another." 

The Vassall house at Belle House Neck, Scituate, 
purchased in 1662 by John Cushing, is said to have 
been neither large nor imposing, but it housed the 
Cushings of three generations, and was the birthplace 
of Chief Justice William in 1732. In 1742, Judge John 
Cushing, 2d, built the house now standing on the property, 
the home of Roger Sherman Dix. It was owned by the 
descendants of John Cushing, fourth of the name, elder 
half-brother of Judge William, until its sale in 1842 to 
David Briggs, from whose son it was purchased by Mr. Dix. 




JUDGE William Gushing 



The "Family of Judges" 

Chief Justice William Gushing 

THE life of Chief Justice William Gushing is that of 
one of no mere local celebrity, for the distinguished 
service given by him to state and nation places him on 
the list of the founders of the Federal Government. 

(35) 



36 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

William Gushing was born in Scituate, on March 1, 
1732, of distinguished ancestry. He was a descendant 
of Matthew Gushing, of Hingham, through his son John, 
who came to Scituate in 1662, having purchased the 
Belle House Neck estate from the heirs of William 
Vassall. So many judges have borne the Gushing name, 
that it has been called the "Family of Judges," and the 
first John Gushing, the "Father of Judges." William's 
father and grandfather, the latter the eldest son of the 
first John, were Judges of the Provincial Gourts. His 
grandfather, Judge John, Sr., was called by a contem- 
porary, John Gotton, "the life and soul of the Gourt." 
Both father and son were Judges of the Superior Gourt 
of Massachusetts, the latter retiring in 1772, to be 
succeeded by his son William. 

William Gushing was prepared for college by Richard 
Fitzgerald, of Scituate, and graduated from Harvard 
GoUege in 1751. He was Master of the Roxbury 
Grammar School for a time, and later studied law under 
the celebrated Jeremy Gridley, of Gambridge, an Attor- 
ney General of the Province. He began the practice of 
law in his native town, often accompanying his father 
upon his circuits. 

His brother Gharles, after graduating from Harvard, 
had gone to Pownalborough (afterwards divided into 
the towns of Dresden and Wiscasset), where tradition 
says his father had large grants of land. York was the 
only county in what is now the State of Maine, until 
Lincoln Gounty was established, in 1768, with Pownal- 
borough for the shire town. At that time there was no 
house on the Kennebec River from two miles above the 
county-seat to the settlements of Ganada, except Fort 
Western, at Augusta, and Fort Halifax, at Winslow, the 
whole country being a wilderness. William Gushing 
followed his brother Gharles to this frontier town, and 
was for some years the only college-bred lawyer there. 
In 1768, he was appointed Judge of Probate of Lincoln 
Gounty, at the age of twenty-eight, and spent the next 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 37 

twelve years of his life in Pownalborough. In 1772, his 
father resigned his position as i\ssociate Judge of the 
Superior Court of Judicature, and William was appointed 
his successor. He returned to the Scituate home, at 
Walnut Tree Hill, and in 1774 married Hannah Phillips, 
taking his young bride to the home of his widowed 
father, presided over since the death of his wife by his 
unmarried daughter Abigail. This house was destined to 
be their only home, in which they resided for a few 
months each year, as Madam Gushing always accom- 
panied her husband upon his circuits, a mode of living 
made possible because there were no children born of the 
marriage. In January, 1792, she wrote to a relative of 
the Judge: "The time draws nigh for us to quit home, 
and not to return until May. We are traveling machines, 
and no abiding place in every sense of the word." 

William Cushing's appointment as a Supreme Court 
Justice under the Crown came just before the outbreak 
of the Revolution. At this time he closely guarded his 
opinions, and as a Judge strictly abstained from taking 
any part in political discussions until the hour came for 
him properly to declare himself. He did this in drafting 
the resolutions of the town of Scituate, in June, 1776, 
for the instruction of its Representative, Nathan Cushing. 
Judge Cushing was the only member of the King's 
bench who supported the independence and separation 
of the colonies from the mother country, and when the 
courts were reorganized, in 1775, was the only Justice of 
the Provincial Court who was retained in judicial 
position. "The position of administering justice in a 
province in rebellion was no holiday affair. It was a post 
of extreme peril. . . . Courage and deep conviction 
must have dictated his course." * 

In 1777, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior 
Court of Judicature, and labored with success in placing 

* From address given before the Scituate Historical Society, 
August 30, 1919, by Chief Justice Arthur P. Rugg, of the Supreme 
Judicial Court. 



38 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

that court upon a firm and substantial basis. One im- 
portant duty was the charge to the Grand Jury, then 
more highly thought of than at the present. Few of his 
charges are on record, for at the time there were no 
written opinions. His most important charge on record 
while on the Massachusetts bench was given at Worces- 
ter in April, 1783. The particulars are interesting. 
Slavery had been tolerated in the province, and when 
Massachusetts became a state, a phrase of the Con- 
stitution adopted in 1780 omitted the words which 
disfranchised "negroes, Indians, and Mulattoes," and 
gave the right of suffrage to "every male person being 
twenty-one years of age" and possessed of a certain 
amount of property "being free," etc. A negro by the 
name of Quaco, otherwise known as Quork Walker, 
born in slavery, put this to the test. He had been sold 
at the age of nine months, together with his father and 
mother, to a Mr. Caldwell, who promised Quaco his 
freedom at the age of twenty-five, while his widow 
promised it earlier, when Quaco should be twenty-one. 
The widow Caldwell married Nathaniel Jennison, of 
Barre, Mass., and after his wife's death, the husband 
claimed Quaco as a part of her estate. When Quaco 
came of age, he ran away from Jennison, was overtaken, 
beaten, and imprisoned for two hours. John Caldwell, 
a brother of his first master, in whose employ he was 
when seized, came to his assistance, and Quaco was given 
legal advice. The case was first tried in the Court of 
Common Pleas, and the jury awarded the negro a 
verdict of £50. The case was appealed, and finally came 
before the Supreme Court. The full bench of Chief 
Justice and three Associate Justices presided over the 
trial. Chief Justice Cushing's charge to the grand jury 
is on record. He said in part: 

"As to the doctrine of slavery, and the right of Christians to hold 
Africans in perpetual servitude, and sell and treat them as we do our 
horses and cattle, that (it is true) has been heretofore countenanced 
by the Province laws formerly, but nowhere is it expressly enacted or 
established. It has been a usage which took its origin from some 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 39 

European nations, and the regulations of the British Government 
respecting the then Colonies, for the benefit of trade and wealth. 
But whatever sentiments have formerly prevailed in this particular, 
or slid upon us by the example of others, a different idea has taken 
place with the people of America, more favorable to the natural right 
of mankind, and to that natural, innate desire of Liberty, with which 
Heaven (without regard to color, complexion or shape of noses, 
features) has inspired all the human race. And upon this ground our 
Constitution of Government, by which the people of this Common- 
wealth have solemnly bound themselves, sets out with declaring all 
men are born free and equal — and that every subject is entitled to 
liberty — • and to have it guarded by the laws, as well as life and 
property — and in short is totally repugnant to the idea of being 
born slaves. This being the case, I think the idea of slavery is in- 
consistent with our own conduct and Constitution; and there can 
be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational creature, unless 
his liberty is forfeited by criminal conduct, or given up by personal 
consent or contract." 

It was this far reaching judicial opinion which abol- 
ished slavery in the State of Massachusetts. To the 
lately published "Outlines of History," by H. G. Wells, 
there is appended a table ot leading events from 800 B. C. 
to 1920 A. D. Between 1780 and 1787, one finds but 
two events chronicled: 1783, Treaty ot Peace between 
Britain and the new United States of America; and 
second, Quaco, the slave treed in Massachusetts. In 
the volume preceding, one reads: "In that year [17831 
the soil of Massachusetts became like the soil of Britain, 
intolerant of slavery; to tread upon it was to become 
free." At that time no other state in the Union fol- 
lowed this example. In the census of 1790, Massachu- 
setts alone of all the states returned "no slaves." 

The chaos that existed in this Commonwealth between 

the close of the Revolution and the establishment of the 

Federal Government made the position of a judge ot 

any court one of extreme peril. In a sketch written by 

his grand-nephew, Charles Cushing Paine,* it is said: 

"The Courts and Judges were subjected during these times to great 
annoyances, and occasionally to much personal danger; frequently 
the court houses were surrounded and filled by people armed and 
highly excited, and the Judges were refused admittance at the inns, 
or food either for themselves or their horses. One occasion, in 
particular, has often been mentioned, when the Judges were exposed 
to imminent hazard of their lives. On arriving at the inn of a town 
where the court was to be held, they found the whole intervening 

* See Flanders' "Lives and Times of the Chief Justices." 



40 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

space to the court house filled by a mob of many hundred, armed, 
and resolved to prevent the opening of the court. The Chief Justice 
[Gushing] was applied to by a committee from the mob, and en- 
treated to yield to their wishes; he replied, that the law appointed 
the court to be held at that time, and it was their duty to hold it 
accordingly; and followed by his Associates, he proceeded into the 
street. His countenance was blanched to paleness, but his step was 
firm. As he advanced, the crowd opened before him, but slowly and 
sullenly; muskets rattled, and some bayonets rapped upon his 
breast; quietly and firmly, however, he moved on, reached the court 
house, and the court was regularly opened. The respect and affection 
universally borne towards him contributed, without doubt, in no 
slight degree, to preserve the public support to the courts, and main- 
tained their authority in this crisis." 

In 1780, Chief Justice Gushing was a member of the 
Convention that framed the Constitution of the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts; in 1788, he was Vice- 
President of the State Convention that ratified the 
Constitution of the United States, and presided at many 
of its meetings. 

When the Federal Government was organized in 1789, 
the Chief Justice of Massachusetts was selected as one 
of the Justices of the Supreme Court, the first Associate 
Justice named by Washington. As senior Associate 
Justice, Judge Cushing administered the oath of office 
to Washington at his second inaugural in March, 1793, 
because of the absence of Chief Justice Jay as envoy to 
the Court of Great Britain. This was the first time this 
ceremony had been performed. 

The duties of the Supreme Court Justices were not 
heavy at first; the most arduous task was the traveling 
made necessary by the extent of the different circuits, 
which extended from Falmouth (Portland), Me., to 
Augusta, Ga. The distances were covered by Judge 
Cushing in a traveling chaise drawn by two horses, 
driven by the Judge, while Prince, his colored serving- 
man, followed in a lighter vehicle containing his own and 
Madam Cushing's luggage. On long circuits, and 
during the winter and spring months, another colored 
servant, Scipio, accompanied them on horseback, riding 
ahead, over the muddy roads, to see if the bridges were 
safe, before attempting to cross them. It is said that 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 41 

Madam Gushing would always alight and walk across 
the bridges, never trusting herself to their uncertain 
strength. In a letter to a relative, living some thirty or 
forty miles from Atlanta, dated at Atlanta, November 17, 
1793, Judge Gushing writes: 

"Mrs. Gushing and I should have done ourselves the pleasure of a 
short visit at your home had time and circumstance permitted; but I 
am obliged to hasten off to-morrow to Wake, N. C, a space of 300 
miles, to hold court there the last of this month, and having travelled a 
journey of 1300 miles already with a pair of horses in a phaeton, 
somewhat encumbered with necessary baggage, it will be as much as 
we can do to reach Wake in season." 

In the same letter he speaks of other relatives: 

"whom we have thought of calling to see in our progress to the 
northward after Wake Court is over, if i/ie roads that way shall not be 
found inconvenient, and if it be not too much out of our way. Our 
course will be through Philadelphia, where I expect to be detained 
at court till the last of February; then homeward bound through 
Middletown, in Connecticut, Mrs. Cushing's native place, and at 
length I suppose we shall compleat a voyage of 8 mos." 

The most important case in which Judge Gushing 
rendered a decision as a Justice of the Supreme Gourt, 
is said to have been that of Ghisholm v. Georgia. The 
point at issue was one relating to State Rights, and the 
opinion of the court itself was a divided one. Judge 
Gushing expressed the prevailing view, but the case was 
of such vital importance that later, when his name was 
proposed as Governor of Massachusetts, his decision 
was used against his nomination. 

His so-called diary, written on the blank leaves of the 
North American Almanack for the year 1776, was pre- 
served in the Francis B. Lee family until a few years ago, 
but is now unfortunately missing. Before it disappeared, 
Charles Otis Ellms copied it, and its items are of interest, 
for they reveal many acts of neighborly kindness shown 
by himself and wife. It also fixes the date of the building 
of "Neal's gate," which has given its name to the "Neal 
Gate Road." Neal was Judge Gushing's farmer,* who 
managed the farm in his absence, and he began work 

*The site of Neal's house can be seen in the field west of Neal Gate 
Road, marked by a clump of bushes on the hillock near the roadway. 



42 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

on the gate x'\pril 4, 1776. In this diary, items of historic 
interest were interspersed by farm notes, as "Mr. Neal 
broke flax," "Mr. Neal dressed flax," "Mr. Neal finished 
the gate." On Thursday, April 11, an item of local 
interest is recorded: 

"Yesterday a scow from the West Indies for Boston, for the 
Ministerial Army, loaded with 355 hogsheads of rum, &c, was taken 
off Cohasset, by some boats from thence. Col. Doane's son with 
those who took it. — Major Thomas Lothrop commanding. Last 
Wed. week, Capt. Manley took a vessel that went off with the fleet 
from Boston, worth in English goods, cash and plate, £35,000 
Sterling. Bill Jackson and other Tories on board." 

Note: F.lisha Doane, Jr., married later a niece of Judge Gushing, 
and Wm. Jackson married Madam Cushing's sister. 

In this year of 1776, smallpox had broken out with 
mvich virulence, in the army and elsewhere, and physi- 
cians were urging inoculation to stay its ravages. There 
was much opposition to this practice, and doctors in 
many places were subjected to personal violence for 
advocating it. Actions were begun against some of 
Scituate's most respected physicians "for breach of bond 
for faithful discharge of duty." Both Judge and Madam 
Gushing were inoculated, thereby setting an example 
that probably had much to do with allaying the panic. 

In 1794, Judge Gushing was nominated as candidate 

for Governor of Massachusetts in opposition to Samuel 

Adams. A letter written by him to Theophilus Parsons 

shows that he was averse to accepting the nomination, 

and in fact declined it, but electioneering in his behalf 

continued. John x^dams said at this time, "I shall be 

happier if Gushing succeeds, and the State will be more 

prudently conducted." His letter to Parsons reads: 

"Last evening I received your favor of the 18th of Feb., enclosed 
from Mr. Cabot's from Phila. whereof I understand that you and 
other friends are pleased to honor me by proposing me as a candidate 
for the chief of government. At the same time that I most heartily 
join with you in wishing well to the Union, I must be excused in 
continuing to decline the honor proposed. ... In the first place, 
which however with a patriot you will say ought to be the last, I am 
not a man of sufficient fortune to hold that office, being confident 
that $800 will not be competent to make a tolerably decent appear- 
ance through the year, and treat people with any degree of propriety, 
with all the economy I am master of. If I do but rub and go 
with J>1000 in the present mode of life, 5800 will necessarily fall short 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 43 

in the other. Add to this the habits of a country life to which 1 have 
always been used for the bigger part of the year, and which are 
strengthened as one advances in age, — as also of a particular line of 
duty, the judicial, which by becoming natural, becomes tolerably 
easy, and must be attended with less fatigue of mind and less injury 
to health, than the more political work of the first station in the 
executive, — not to mention the uncertainty of annual election, and 
the continual gauntlet of newspapers to run, which latter, however, 
I do not much regard, being easily consoled with the consciousness ot 
views and motives that are not bad." 

Chief Justice Jay resigned in 1796, and Judge Gushing 
was nominated for the vacant position. His first intima- 
tion of this great honor was at a large dinner party 
given by the President. On his entering the room, 
Washington turned to him and said, "The Chief Justice 
of the United States will please take his seat on my 
right." His nomination had been unanimously con- 
firmed by the Senate, but notwithstanding this evidence 
of great trust in his integrity and ability, and against 
the urgent remonstrance of Washington, he declined the 
honor on account of poor health. A severe illness in 
Washington that year, from which he never fully re- 
covered, and his advancing years, warned him against 
assuming added cares. He continued upon the bench 
until 1810, and that year prepared his resignation, which 
was signed and ready to be sent to President Madison, 
when he was stricken with his fatal illness in his home 
at Scituate. He died on September 13, 1810, at the 
age of seventy-eight years. 

Judge and Madam Cushing were comm.unicants of 
the Second Church, but at the time of his death their 
pastor, Dr. Barnes, was very old and infirm, and his 
young colleague, the Rev. Samuel Deane, a comparative 
stranger, so they naturally turned to their neighbor, the 
Rev. Nehemiah Thomas, for sympathy and consolation, 
and he was sent for to be present during the last moments 
of the Judge's life. A letter sent by Mr. Thomas to 
Mrs. Cushing a month later has been preserved. In it 
he says: 

"Those to whom Judge Cushing was known as a public character 
may be sensible of the loss which society has sustained by his death; 



44 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

but they only who knew those virtues which rendered him so pecul- 
iarly amiable in private life, and so universally respected and be- 
loved by his neighbors and townsmen, can duly estimate your loss. 
It was so ordained in providence that I should be with him 
in his last moments, and witness the departure of a man, whom I had 
long considered the most perfect character, with whom I had the 
happiness of personal acquaintance. . . . The present you 
lately sent me was rendered doubly valuable by the sentiments of 
piety and benevolent wishes for my welfare accompanying it. I am 
your grateful and much obliged friend, N. Thomas." 

Deane, in his "History of Scituate," says of him: 

"In person he was of middling stature, erect and graceful; of form 
rather slight, of complexion fair, of blue and brilliant eyes, and 
aquiline nose. . . . He diligently collected works of taste, and 
he read with the greatest care. . . . He was a learned the- 
ologian — well acquainted with the controversies of the day, and 
though far from gathering heat from those controversies, he was 
conspicuously on the side of liberal Christianity." 

His large and valuable library was given, on the death 
of Madam Gushing, to her grand-nephew, William 
Gushing Hammatt, of Bangor, and was burned in a fire 
that consumed his house. It is interesting to observe 
how Deane's description corresponds with the silhouette 
here shown. 

Deane further tells us: "As a Judge, he was eminently 
qualified by his learning, and not less by his unshaken 
integrity and deliberate temper," and adds, that he 
"first saw him on the bench in 1801 when his zenith 
brightness had probably abated," but he still remembered 
how forcibly his youthful mind was affected by the 
order and perspicuity with which he performed his high 
office, and the mild though commanding dignity with 
which he guided the bar. 

William Gushing had been a noted Judge under 
changing governments — that of the Province, the 
Commonwealth, and the Nation. It is remarkable how 
his trained mind, inherited from two generations of 
eminent judges, guided him in laying the foundations 
of constitutional law — a new branch of jurisprudence 
peculiar to America — by his interpretation of the Con- 
stitution of Massachusetts for ten years before that of 
the United States was ratified. His grasp of funda- 
mentals enabled him to draw correct deductions in cases 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES' 



45 







arising from entirely new conditions of society and of 
government; and to blaze a path, through a maze of 
complications, in a way that led to a substantial in- 
terpretation of the rights of man and of society, under 
these new conditions. A mind less gifted would have 
missed the true interpretation, and so have delayed the 
rightful solution of the many important and original 
questions arising at this period. 

Scituate is justly proud of her distinguished son. On 
August 30, 1919, the Scituate Historical Society un- 
veiled a memorial tablet at the junction of Stockbridge 



46 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

and Judge Gushing Roads at Greenbush. The bas- 
relief of Judge Gushing by Gyrus Dallin is flanked on 
one side by a quotation from his most famous charge 
while Ghief Justice of Massachusetts, which ended 
slavery in the state; and on the other by a quotation 
from his decision in the case of Ghisholm v. Georgia, as 
an Associate Justice of the Supreme Gourt. The able 
addresses given on this occasion by former Lieut. - 
Governor Grafton D. Gushing, a descendant of his 
brother John; and by Ghief Justice Arthur P. Rugg, 
the present holder of the high office Gushing so adorned, 
have been published.* It is now the privilege of Ghief 
Justice Gushing Ghapter to add this tribute to his 
memory, as a citizen and townsman. 



Madam Gushing 

IVTADAM GUSHING was Hannah, a daughter of 
^^ ^ George and Esther Phillips, and was born at 
Middletown, Gonn., in 1754, in the old Phillips house, 
where she was afterwards married. She must have been 
an uncommonly pretty baby, for we are told that 
Gushing, then a young lawyer, was entertained at her 
father's house at one time, and Mrs. Phillips jokingly 
remarked on his state of single-blessedness at the age 
of twenty-two. He is said to have replied: "I shall 
wait for this young lady to grow up, and make her my 
wife," turning to the cradle where baby Hannah lay. 
They were married twenty years later. 

The Sharpless picture shows her as she looked at 
thirty-five: plump, black eyed, short of stature, with a 
pleasant, yet determined face, — a stately woman, such 
as the formal manners of her day decreed the wife of a 
judge should be. 

* Judge Rugg's eloquent tribute to Judge Cushing's ability as a 
jurist can be found in the Yale Law Journal oi December, 1920. 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 



47 




Madam Gushing 



Although she survived her husband for twenty-four 
years, and passed the years of her widowhood in the 
Scituate home, few recollections oi her remain in the 



48 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

town, for she left no descendants, and the relatives who 
once lived near by removed elsewhere. Her grand-niece, 
Mrs. Mary Carr Stillwell,* has recalled to our minds 
the many social and official functions in which Madam 
Cushlng bore her part with honor. She tells us of her 
beautiful hands that she used so skilfully in knitting; 
and of her fine embroideries in tent-stitch and crewel 
work, that are the more remarkable, as she was extremely 
near sighted. The seats of her drawing-room chairs 
are mentioned in particular, embroidered with flowers, 
blue-jays, and striped tigers; and a coat-of-arms, 
given to cousins residing in Mobile, was destroyed in 
the Civil War. 

Many were the distinguished names attached to cards 
of invitation to dine, to assemblies, and other social 
entertainments. These cards had been preserved in a 
way well known to ladies of former generations, for 
Madam Gushing thriftily cut up a good many of them 
for her silk winders, and her niece recalls this, and says 
that she, as a young girl, unwound several of them. 

"The President of the United States desires the company of Judge 
Gushing at dinner at four o'clock." 

"Mr. Chew requests the honor of Judge Gushing's company at 
Dinner at four. An answer is desired." 

"Mrs. Bingham requests the honor of vour company at dinner on 
Feb. 16, 1792." 

Among them were some odd visiting cards: one of the 
French Minister, M. Adet, written on a playing card — 
the Queen of Hearts — 1792; of Samuel Adams, James 
Otis, Mr. Bingham, Mr. Bigelow, and others, all men 
of high official position and social standing. 

It is rather pleasant in these later days to look back 
to the times when ladies wore stiff brocades and powdered 
hair; to Madam Gushing in her white, pointed-toed, 
high-heeled, English-made satin shoes, with broad paste 
buckles set in silver, her tabby gowns and lace kerchief, 
her sprigged aprons wrought in true-lovers' knots, and 
her ruffled lace elbows. 

*In a paper read before the Ghapter in 1914. ,~. 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 49 

That she was esteemed by her friends and contem- 
poraries will be seen from the letters of her companions, 
Mrs. Abigail Adams, Mrs. Mercy Warren, and others. 

Mrs. Adams wrote: 

Quincy, Nov. 3, 1811. 
My dear Friend — I owe to your friendship a letter of thanks for 
the interest you take in whatever concerns me or mine. 
Letters from my son, John Quincy Adams, in Russia, inform us that 
he has declined his seat upon the bench. . . . The President 
wishes to be remembered to you. ... I am, My dear friend. 
Affectionately yours, Abigail Adams. 

An extract from Mrs. Warren says: 

"I beg the favor of Madam Cushing's company to sit with me an 
hour that I may, by her example, learn to bear the affliction which 
has come upon me." [The loss of her well-loved son.] 

The following is a letter from Mrs. Pinckney: 
My Dear Madam: 

Major Pinckney arrived here two days ago, and in answer to my 
inquiries after you and the Judge, informed me that he heard you 
had been at Richmond and had left it, so that now I do not know 
where to direct to you, and the pleasure of seeing you must be left 
wholly to chance. I do not dwell on the subject, as you will not read 
this till after your arrival in Philadelphia, where perhaps we may 
have the satisfaction of seeing each other at Mount Vernon, or on 
the road. If I have not the pleasure of seeing you, it will be a subject 
of great regreat to General Pinckney, as well as to myself, and to 

[name illegible]. They beg to join me in assuring you and 

the Judge of our good wishes, and I have taken the liberty of leaving 
with Mrs. Wolcott a fan of which I beg your acceptance. I hope 
you will continue to give me the satisfaction of hearing from you, 
and I will now and then recall myself to your recollection. 
Every blessing attend you. Mary Pinckney. 

Philadelphia, 16 Dec, 1790. 

One can fancy the dignified lady comfortably sitting 
in the long room of their beautiful home at Scituate, 
with the projecting rafters of the ceiling, the deep 
fireplace with its tiles, and broad brick hearth with 
shining brasses, a little tripod table by her side, and 
her work-bag, with its drawing strings, and a heap of 
crewels upon it — crewels which she winds with her 
delicate plump hands; on one finger a ring bearing the 
motto, "This is thine but thou art mine." 

In their hospitable home there were often visiting 
young nieces, and because Aunt Cvishing did not believe 
in folded hands, they were asked to hemstitch the 



50 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

ruffles of the Judge's linen shirts, to embroider needle- 
cases, and work samplers in tent-stitch. 

In the Scituate home, with its quaint, beautiful fur- 
nishings. Judge and Madam Gushing spent the life of 
kind, courtly, neighboring folk, she ever helpful for 
others' needs; and after her husband's death, for the 
twenty-four years of her widowhood, she lived alone, 
faithfully attended by their colored servants — one whose 
life was in the past rather than in the present. A gentle- 
woman in birth and breeding, who had lived in the 
most interesting time of our country's history, and had 
borne her part in it with dignity and ease. 

Many relics of her household, and all her personal 
belongings, were given to her family connections, for the 
Scituate home was richly appointed. Among the most 
valuable of them all were the Sharpless portraits of 
Washington, Adams, Judge and Madam Gushing, that 
were hung in a row in the large, state dining-room. The 
two former were given to the Judge's niece, Hannah 
Phillips Aylwin, who married Gov. Hoppin, of Provi- 
dence; and those of Judge and Madam Gushing to her 
niece, Esther Parsons, who had married William Ham- 
matt. They are now owned and greatly treasured by 
her grandson, William Gushing Donnell, of Houlton, Me. 

When Philadelphia was the capital, the English 
artist, James Sharpless, made many pastel portraits of 
the notables who gathered there, and it is said that 
those of the Judge and his wife were suggested by 
Washington himself, in conversation with Mrs. Gushing, 
who replied that they would be pleased to sit to Sharpless, 
if His Honor would do the same. An extract from one of 
the Judge's letters written from Philadelphia tells us 
that he did not particularly like his own portrait. He 
wrote: 

"I must give you a hint that Mr. Sharpless, from New York, has 
been here some weeks taking portraits; lodges in the same house 
with us, and that last week he took your aunt, and whether you will 
believe it or not he has given her a prodigious handsome face — and 
yet through the embellishments you may see some of the original 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 51 

lineaments. . . . Although not liking my portrait taken by 
him, which I believe you have seen at your Uncle George's, he has 
taken me again yesterday, which I like much better, tho' he does not 
incline to abate much of anything in the nose." 

The pictures here shown were made from photographs 
of these portraits, and cannot indicate the deHcate 
coloring of the pastel drawings, a distinctive feature of 
Sharpless' work. 

We are told of the treasures found in the old mahogany 
brass-trimmed bureau — fabrics given her by her dear 
friends, laid carefully away, and labeled in taded 
writing: "This piece was given me by my dear friend, 
Mrs. Pinckney, as a reminder of the pleasant occasions 
when we have worn together our favorite brocades, she 
receiving an equivalent from mine of the cream color with 

pink roses." Another read: "My nephew, Capt. P 

brought from London for his wife, at the same time with 
my best china tea-set, which I desire they shall have 
when I shall have done with it." x^nother: "From the 
much honored Mrs. Adams to make pincushions." 

Under these were the dresses laid away untouched 
since worn in the days of our Republican Court. Many 
times had her young nieces begged for a glimpse of these 
beautiful gowns, but were always answered, "No, my 
dears, the time will come when they will be shown, but 
not by me." The one they especially longed to see was 
known to them as the "Garden Satin," purchased at 
great price, and imported expressly tor Washington's 
Inaugural Reception. But first they found a delicate 
India muslin covered with sprays of embroidery, and a 
large muslin apron, with designs of chain-stitch filled in 
by lacework as exquisite as point lace, the labor of a 
twel' month at Miss Ranney's school. Under these was 
the Sharpless portrait dress of pearl gray; and finally, 
folded within fine, white linen, printed with the gayest 
and prettiest of bright-colored flowers, lay the "Garden 
Satin." A strange name for a gown indeed, but singularly 
appropriate, for the groundwork of the fabric was a 
clear green, almost covered by a vinery of leaves of 



52 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

beautiful shading and tint, with many a sweet flower, 
cHnging, swinging, and twisting among it; just a Httle 
speck of brown here, a streak, like pale sunshine there." 
Madam had said, "My Garden Satin, Sister B's 
daughter Hannah must have." She hesitated to take it, 
for what could be done with it? Some one said, "What 
beautiful sofa pillows it will make!" So it was divided, 
and every relative of Madam Gushing, far and near, 
received a piece to be thus preserved in memory of their 
distinguished relative. 

Judge Gushing had often expressed the desire to be 
buried in the family lot at Belle House Neck, where lay 
three generations of his family; and at his death these 
wishes were carried out by his brothers, to whom he had 
given explicit directions. A burial place in this remote 
spot did not please Madam Gushing, and before her 
death, in 1 834, she had built a tomb in the burying-ground 
of the Second Parish, with the intention of having the 
Judge's remains removed and buried with her own, 
hoping that the remonstrances of his family to such 
removal would have been overcome in the quarter of a 
century that had elapsed since his death. Instructions 
were left with a trusted neighbor to have her wishes 
carried out, but the objections were not removed. In 
the Gushing lot, near the river, stands a granite shaft 
bearing only the name "Gushing," while in the Second 
Parish burying-ground is the brick vault with massive 
slate top, the final resting-place of Madam Hannah 
Gushing, his wife. 

The Gushing Mansion 

THE Gushing home at Walnut Tree Hill was built by 
Judge John 2d, William's father, in 1743, he having 
built the house now standing at Belle House Neck the 
year before. On the completion of the second house he 
removed there with his family, and left the house at the 
Neck in the possession of his eldest son, John, who had 
lately married. 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 53 

The broad acres around the mansion were upon the 
main highway, extending to Neal Gate Road, and the 
house he built there was of large and dignified proportion, 
appropriate to one of his social standing. It was a 
stately mansion of Georgian architecture, and contained 
many rooms. We are pleasantly reminded that once in 
our own town stood a house ranking in dignity with Mt. 
Vernon, when we hear of its state dining-room, where 
hung in a row the Sharpless portraits of General Wash- 
ington and John Aciams, with those of Judge and Madam 
Gushing — the two former presented by Washington 
himself. 

Two doorways on the south and west sides had beauti- 
ful fan lights, and over one of these may at one time have 
stood the "honey-suckle porch" of sweet and fragrant 
memory. Four fine Lombardy poplars stood in front of 
the mansion, whose front walk was lined with stiff ever- 
green trees to the gateway. An avenue of trees bordered 
the highway for nearly a mile, said by some to have been 
Lombardy poplars, by others, "button-woods." This 
long, tree-lined avenue added much to the dignity of the 
surroundings. 

The Rev. Wm. P. Tilden has written of his recollection 

of the place: 

"One of the fine old places in Scituate was Madam Cushing's, in 
the centre of the town. . . . She was a lady of the old school, 
who had been accustomed to the best society. She was always 
known as 'Madam Gushing'; and her fine old mansion and beautiful 
grounds were a delight to my boyish eyes. There was no place like 
it in town. Then too, she was generous to us boys, and at cherry 
time would invite us into her beautiful garden, and give us the free 
range of her magnificent 'black-heart' cherry-trees, the largest and 
finest I ever saw." 

In the terraced garden grew great varieties of fruits 
and vegetables — on one terrace were strawberries, both 
white and red; and a relative of Madam Gushing has 
recalled some tomato vines, then known as the love 
apple, raised from seed which Judge Gushing brought 
from Washington. These vines were torn up and thrown 
away "because they smelt so bad." 



54 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

The house itself was richly furnished, and contained 
many valuable papers and mementoes gathered and 
preserved by the family. On the death of Madam 
Gushing, these treasures were distributed among the 
relatives of both families. We have been told of the great 
white settle that stood in the ordinary dining-room, a 
favorite seat for young lovers — and of "the great kitchen 
full of niggers," family servitors bequeathed to Judge 
and Madam. Prince, the black coachman, had been 
given to Madam Gushing by her father when she was a 
young girl, on condition that "she shall take him up to be 
christened." Then there were Scipio and Alice, both 
remembered in later years. 

On the death of Madam Gushing, in 1834, the estate 
passed into the possession of the Judge's nephew, 
Gharles Gushing, according to provisions in his uncle's 
will, with the intention that it should remain in the 
family. Gharles Gushing at this time was living in the 
old Gov. Wentworth mansion, near Portsmouth, "at 
Little Harbor, just beyond the town, where his great 
house stood looking out to sea. A goodly place, where 
it was good to be." Preferring Portsmouth to Scituate, 
he sold the place to his cousin, William Gushing Aylwin, 
a wealthy Bostonian, who had married his cousin, Sarah 
Paine.* 

William Aylwin bought the place for a summer home, 
but his wife, who was long known as a Boston belle, and 
a woman of fashion, naturally found Scituate too tame 
and lonely for her taste, so her husband sold it to a 
member of the Swan family, of Vermont,! who were 
descendants of Judge William's half-sister Mary. The 
old mansion was burned in 1872. Since that date 
the estate has had several owners. A cottage was built 
by one of them upon the old cellar, and that house was 
burned a few years ago. After the second fire, the 

* Both Mr. and Mrs. Aylwin were descendants of Judge John 2d. 
t The Danas. 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 55 

present owner of the tarm* moved the stable, with its 
large, arched entrance doors, the only one ot the original 
buildings that were once Judge Cushing's, to the old 
house cellar, and remodeled it into the present structure. 



The bottles and glasses shown in this picture belong 
to a very beautiful case of glasses given by Judge 
Gushing, in his will, to his namesake, William Gushing 
Whitridge, a son of his niece, Mary Gushing (daughter 
of his half-brother John), who lived at Tiverton, R. I. 
Dr. Whitridge was for many years a prominent physician 
in New Bedford. William Whitridge, of Baltimore, the 
present owner of the glasses, is a grandson. 

Judge Nathan Gushing 

NATHAN GUSHING was a descendant of John of 
Belle House Neck, through the line of his youngest 
son, Joseph. He was one of the fifteen children of Dea. 
Joseph Gushing, Jr., and Lydia King, born in 1742, 
educated by his father, and graduated from Harvard 
Gollege in 1763. He was first a preacher, and afterward 
a lawyer. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was 
* Geo. H. Pollard. 



56 THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 

Scituate's Representative to the General Court of the 
Colony, and immediately began his activities for the 
cause of the patriots. His name was the first on the list 
of persons appointed in 1774 to draft resolutions "relating 
to the difficulties of the times." He served his town as a 
member of the "Committee of Inspection and Corre- 
spondence" in 1774; a Representative to the Congress at 
Watertown, in May, 1775; to the Congress at Cambridge, 
in February, 1775, and again in 1776 and 1777. 

He was one of the three members sent from Scituate to 
ratify the Federal Constitution in January, 1778, with 
his cousin. Chief Justice William, and Hon. Charles 
Turner. The same year he was appointed Judge of 
Admiralty, and gained much publicity by the firmness 
he displayed in condemning the captured British vessels. 
In 1789, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, 
a position which he resigned in 1801. 

The Massachusetts Legislature, in 1780, appointed 
Nathan Cushing a committee to present a design for a 
state seal. His design was accepted, and the present seal 
is a constant reminder of this honored gentleman of the 
old school. 

Deane tells us that "he was a gentleman of noble 
form, commanding countenance and courteous manners." 
Therefore we think of him as a fine looking, portly man, 
genial and popular in his native town. No portrait of 
him is known to exist. 

His daughter Abigail was the wife of Dr. Cushing 
Otis, and her daughter, Abigail Tilden Otis, the last 
member of the family, died in the eighties. 

A story of Judge Nathan's kindness and neighborliness 
is delightfully told by Rev. William Phillips Tilden, in 
the reminiscences of his boyhood: 

"Our nearest neighbor was Judge Nathan Cushing. He lived in 
a fine old mansion, close to our house. He was a distinguished man, 
a graduate of Harvard, a brave patriot in the Revolution; and in 
1789 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court. 

"He married Miss Abigail Tilden of Boston, a relative ot father; 
and this may have added somewhat to the neighborhood ties, for 
he was a good friend. He died while I was very young; but his fine 



THE "FAMILY OF JUDGES" 57 

old home, with its pleasant surroundings, was one of the attractions 
of my early childhood. Aunt Lizzie, especially, a domestic in the 
household, a sort of general see-to-everything, was my special 
favorite. Perhaps it was her seed-cakes and other dainties which 
lent a charm to our intimacy, that lodged her pleasant face in my 
memory. 

"The old judge was particularly fond of my little brother Albert, 
and used often to take him out to ride. One day, when the time was 
approaching for Albert to shed his frock, the judge took him home, 
and unbeknown to mother, had the frock taken off and tied up in a 
bundle, and the boy arrayed in a beautiful suit of velvet he had 
bought for him. Thus changed from petticoats to velvet pants and 
jerkin, proud as a peacock, he was carried home to his astonished 
mother. The tradition of this pleasant incident is remembered as 
one of the fairy stories of home life. If one wants to make himself 
a hero and attain to earthly immortality, let him give some boy his 
first suit of jacket and pants." 




"Half- Way House" 



Post Roads and Taverns 

THE early settlers of the South Shore towns found 
that the waters of Massachusetts Bay furnished 
a comparatively easy line for their limited travel and 
for trading with settlements along the coast. Before 
1700, packet lines were established that made it a sate 
journey to Massachusetts Colony towns during the 
summer months. Scituate also had a natural highway 
in the North River, which gave to her groups of settlers 
along its course several "ports of entry" at the various 
landings which still bear their ancient names — Hobart's 
Landing, King's Landing, Job's Landing. During the 
winter months it was another matter to sail along the 
unchartered shore, as Capt. Anthony CoUamore found 
it in December, 1693, when his vessel was wrecked on 
the ledge off North Scituate Beach, since that time known 
as "Collamore's Ledge." The captain's body was re- 
covered, and "buried under arms," as he was the captain 
of the town militia. 

(58) 



POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 59 

To reach the inland settlements, like the Bridgewaters, 
a horseback ride over the old Indian trails was necessary. 
If the goodwife accompanied her husband, she rode 
behind him on a pillion. Horses were scarce, but if one 
was available, a party of four could go by the "ride and 
tie" method, one couple riding for some distance, then 
dismounting and tying the horse, and proceeding on foot 
for a time. The other couple, who had set out on foot, 
would come upon the horse, rested, and waiting for them 
to ride in their turn. 

The old Plymouth Coast Road, from Boston to 
Plymouth, was provided for by the General Court in 
1639. It ran over "the Neck," through Roxbury and 
Milton, to that part of old Braintree now known as 
Quincy; from there through Weymouth to Hingham and 
Cohasset, then a part of the town of Hingham; over the 
King's Highway across Bound Brook, and "the Cohasset 
road" into Scituate. There it took the name of the 
"Countrey Way" over Brushy Hill, to the ferry on the 
North River, established as early as 1637 by Mr. William 
Vassall, near his home at Belle House Neck. That year, 
200 acres of very advantageously situated land along the 
river were granted that distinguished gentleman, on the 
condition that he "keep a ferry against his farm, toll Id 
for a man, and 4d for a beast." Around 1730 it was 
known as Doggett's Ferry, as Capt. John Doggett was 
then the ferryman. 

The following year, the court ordered a ferry kept 
near the mouth of the river, below "New Harbour 
marshes," for the convenience of the magistrates. Its 
first ferryman was Jonathan Brewster of Duxbury. In 
1645, Ralph Chapman, the ferryman, implored the 
court to excuse him, "as it would bring him to extreme 
poverty." He was excused, except on "special occasions." 

The road leading to Vassall's was one of the earliest 
laid out, before 1646. Before that date it was simply a 
matter of choice whether the trail along the shore over 
the Third and Fourth Cliff, and Brewster's Ferry, be 



60 POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 

chosen, or that less-exposed tract to Vassall's Ferry, and 
then on to Duxbury and Plymouth. 

Horses were scarce at that period in New England; 
but before 1680, the famous Narragansett pacers, ideal 
saddle horses, were being bred in large numbers in 
Rhode Island. In 1677, Capt. John Hull, father of the 
bouncing lass who married Judge Sewall, and brought 
him a dowry of her weight in pinetree shillings, conceived 
the idea of fencing off the north end of Point Judith 
Neck, on the Narragansett tract, of which he was one of 
the original proprietors, with a "good stone wall," and 
there breeding a choice breed of saddle and draught 
horses, for the use of the wealthy planters of the West 
Indies and the colonies. These Narragansett pacers were 
one of the luxuries of that day, and the wealthy settlers 
of Scituate were doubtless owners of good saddle horses. 

Scituate was the first town in the colony to employ a 
jury or commission to lay out roads. The first foreman 
of such a commission was Mr. William Vassall, appointed 
before 1646. One of the roads laid out by this first jury 
was from Stedman's mill at "the green bush," to his own 
residence at Belle House Neck, and the ferry near at hand. 
This first road followed the course of what is now named 
"Judge Gushing Road," that ancient way that is being 
renewed by the town of Scituate, from the location of 
the "Judge Gushing Memorial," across Rotten Marsh to 
the Gushing burial place on the oldVassall-Gushingestate. 

Weeden, in his "Economic and Social History of New 
England," says that Plymouth Golony was busy building 
roads as early as 1639. Most of these roads followed the 
old Indian trails, which were leveled, and rude bridges 
built over some of the streams that were not fordable at 
all seasons. The story of these early roads is a fascinating 
study, and before leaving them to give an account of the 
old turnpikes, we must dwell for a moment on that old 
trail known as the "Massachusetts Path," between 
Plymouth and Massachusetts, used for many years, or 
hundreds of years it may be, by the red men before the 



POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 61 

English trod these shores. Most people are familiar with 
the story of that old trail; of Gov. Winthrop and his 
party passing over it on foot to visit Gov. Bradford 
at Plymouth, and when, on the return trip, after passing 
the "great swamp," they came to what they called the 
"great river," the Indian Head, the principal tributary 
of North River. There, the water being high and the 
current strong, the dignified governor was forded over 
the stream on the back of his guide, named Luddam. 
This place has since borne the name of "Luddam's Ford." 
It is near the Clapp Rubber Mill at Curtis' Crossing. 

Massachusetts Colony began as early as September 
5, 1639, to make some arrangements to regulate mail 
matter. On that date an act was passed "For preventing 
the miscarriage of letters," which reads: "It is ordered 
that notice bee given that Richard Fairbanks his house 
in Boston is the place appointed for all letters which are 
brought from beyond the seas, or are to be sent thither. 
. . . such letters are to be brought unto him, and he 
is to take care that they be delivered, or sent according to 
their directions, and he is allowed for each letter Id, and 
must answer all miscarriages through his own neglect in 
this kind; provided that no man shall be compelled to 
bring his letters thither except he please." This regu- 
lated the foreign mail service; domestic service still went 
its way unregulated, carried by chance travelers by boat 
or on horseback. 

In 1673, the first regular mounted post from Boston to 
New York was established. This messenger service was 
once in two weeks, and the rider, who was "sent post," 
was allowed 3d per mile for horse and man. Inn holders 
were limited for baiting the horse to two shillings per 
bushel for oats, and 4d for hay, day and night. 

In 1693, an act was passed by the General Court 
establishing, for the first time under that name, a General 
Post-office. In 1706, John Campbell was postmaster at 
Boston. In 1704, he began to publish the first newspaper 
in the colonies, entitled the Weekly Intelligencer, later to 



62 POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 

be known as the Boston News Letter. It is believed that 
post-riders passed through Scituate at this early date, 
for there is a tradition that they rode over an old "way" 
that was abandoned as early as 1704. This old way bore 
to the north near the Second Herring Brook, east of South 
Scituate Village, passed to the east of Herring Brook Hill, 
where the village is located, skirted Dead Swamp, and 
came out on what is now known as Central Street. Here 
the trail divided; the left-hand trail led to Bryant's 
Corner, where a small settlement had been made, and the 
right-hand to the "common lands" around Sherman's 
Corner, where a few more settlers had taken up lands. 
Until 1775, post-riders passed through the towns at 
intervals neither frequent nor regular. 

In 1773, Hugh Finley was appointed postal surveyor 
from Quebec to St. Augustine. He reported carelessness 
as to mails and delivery; letters were often left in tavern 
tap rooms, to be pulled over by any and all loungers who 
frequented these places, and thus were lost. At this 
time a law was passed forbidding the carrying of letters 
by private messenger, as the postmaster's salary depended 
on the number of letters carried by the rider. The post- 
riders themselves seem to have been the chief offenders, 
carrying all way letters at their own profit by pocketing 
the money paid for postage, which was paid on the de- 
livery of the letter. 

Benjamin Franklin, the most famous colonial post- 
master, was removed from office in 1774 because of his 
sympathy with the patriot cause. The Second 
Continental Congress assembled May 10, 1775, and 
on May 12, William Goddard, by the authority of this 
Congress, established a Constitutional Post-office, with 
Franklin as Postmaster General. One of the first mail 
routes established under Franklin was from Cambridge 
through Plymouth and Sandwich to Falmouth, covered 
each week by post-riders. In June, 1775, William Watson 
was appointed postmaster at Plymouth, with Timothy 
Goodwin and Joseph Howland as post-riders. A mail 



POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 63 

route ran through Scituate to Plymouth as soon as the 
system was established, and Goodwin and Howland came 
into town by way of Doggett's Ferry. These early riders 
left letters at various farmhouses along the way, or 
delivered them to messengers who were sent to meet 
them. The Gushing farmhouse at Belle House Neck was 
a convenient place for this purpose, in sight of the ferry 
which the rider must cross. Here dwelt the elder half- 
brother of the Chief Justice of Massachusetts, and letters 
ot much interest were left there. Our minds picture the 
colored servant of his father. Judge John Gushing, who, 
on days when the post-rider was expected, would leave 
the home at Walnut Tree Hill, pass through "Mr. Neal's 
gate" along the private road leading to the old farm- 
house, and there find the letters for which the old judge 
was anxiously waiting, some of them from his son. Judge 
William, who, as the newly appointed Ghief Justice of the 
Supreme Judicial Gourt, was trying to re-establish that 
court, and place the judicial system on a firm basis. 
Letters, too, for his distant cousin. Judge Nathan 
Gushing, who lived some two miles to the westward, at 
Henchman's Gorner, and who had come into public 
notice first as Scituate's Representative, and then as 
Judge of Admiralty during the Revolution. 

The first post-ofiice in Scituate was established in 1800, 
and Gharles Turner, Jr., called Gol. Gharles, was the first 
postmaster. Gol. Gharles lived in the south part of the 
town on what is now called Winter Street, but there 
seems to be no especial evidence that the office was kept 
at his home. In 1805, Augustus Glap was appointed 
postmaster, and the office removed to his home, the old 
Glapp mansion, remembered by many now living, taken 
down by the Glapp heirs after the death of Miss Mary 
Leonard Glapp. This office was the only one in town un- 
til 1828 and 1829, when three other offices were opened: 
one at South Scituate, John K. Nash, Postmaster; at 
Assinippi, Edward Jacob, Postmaster; and the third at 
the Harbor village, Gideon W. Young, Postmaster. 



64 POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 

Miss Mary A. Ford, in speaking of Greenbush about 
1825, says: "Then came the one horse 'shay,' in which 
'Diah' Little, with his wooden leg, used to convey an 
occasional passenger and the mail from Marshfield, 
through Scituate to Boston, once or twice a week, leaving 
the mail in his day at the old Clapp colonial house near 
the 'tan brook,' depositing letters in a pewter platter, or 
the bean pot." 

After the Revolution, the coastwise trade, and that 
with the West Indies, began to revive and increase, and 
the foundations of many substantial fortunes were laid. 
Vessels with which to carry on this trade were being 
built in large numbers in the busy North River ship- 
yards; and as business meant intercourse with the outside 
world, so the South Shore towns must provide means of 
communication and transportation of passengers from 
place to place. Then began the era of the stage-coach, 
over roads connecting, in a fairly direct way, and built by 
private enterprise, the various towns with Boston; the 
old turnpikes, with their toll-gates, stone toll-houses, and 
the toll-bridges over the rivers. Scituate had two of these 
toll-bridges, the one built at Doggett's Ferry in 1825, its 
toll-house still standing, and the earlier one at Oakman's 
Ferry, built in 1801, called Union Bridge. Queen 
Ann's Turnpike, extending from Queen Ann's Corner to 
Weymouth, was begun in 1801, and completed by Noah 
Bronson, of Milton, in 1803. 

When the new post-offices were opened in 1828, a 
company of Scituate men started an accommodation 
coach line from South Scituate to Boston, and another 
from Scituate Harbor through Cohasset and Hingham. 
In 1831, these lines were sold to Parker Jones & Co., and 
Duxbury became the starting-point of both. In 1854, 
the Scituate and Cohasset line was sold to Charles Clapp, 
of Scituate, and the South Scituate line to Seth and 
Benjamin P. Foster. The Duxbury end of the business 
was discontinued, for the Old Colony Railroad had been 
built from Boston to Plymouth in 1845, and Duxbury 



POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 65 

was more conveniently served by connection with the 
railroad at Kingston. Foster's coach accommodated the 
Two Mile section of Marshfield, a small coach bringing 
the passengers to connect with the Hingham coach. 
These coaches carried the local mails. The names of the 
drivers of these old Duxbury coaches are familiar ones: 
"Jake" Sprague, "Parse" Bowker, called "Parsie" by the 
boys, with whom he was a great favorite, Harvey Bates, 
of the South Scituate line, and "Bill" Ferguson of the one 
through Scituate. 

The South Shore Railroad had been built as far as 
Cohasset in 1849, and the weary rides to Boston were 
much shortened by Scituate's coach running to the 
Cohasset station, and the South Scituate line ending at 
Hingham, to go by rail in winter and by the steamboat 
line in summer. 

Seth Foster began driving South Scituate's coach 
March 1, 1854. He was then a young man, and he drove 
daily to Hingham until 1875. During the days of the 
Civil War the traffic was very heavy, and two coaches 
were needed each day, the second driven by his brother 
Ben. They carried the North Marshfield, South 
Scituate, Assinippi, and South Hingham mails. The 
Duxbury & Cohasset Railroad was completed in 1872, 
and after 1875, Foster gave up the Hingham route and 
drove to Greenbush, and in all carried the mails for 
forty-three consecutive years. So highly was he regarded 
for honesty and fair dealing that he often attended to 
private matters for others, requiring business sagacity 
and forethought, and handled large sums of money for 
neighbors and fellow townsmen. 

Taverns, or "ordinaries," for the entertainment of 
man and beast, were licensed as soon as the old Indian 
trails were leveled to make traveling on horseback 
possible from settlement to settlement. In 1657, 
Nicholas Wade, who lived on the west side of Brushy 
Hill, was licensed to keep an "ordinary." This is the 
earliest record of a licensed ordinarv that has been 



66 POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 

discovered on the town records. None but those of highest 
reputation were allowed to entertain chance guests, and 
host and hostess were responsible for the conduct of those 
they entertained, who, if this was not satisfactory, were 
at once conducted to the village limits and told to return 
no more. 

Around 1750, the house at the Harbor village, later 
known as the Capt. James Little house, was a tavern, and 
in 1767 the last meeting of the Conihasset Partners was 
held in one of its rooms. It was again a tavern in 1828, 
kept by Gideon Young, who later removed to the house 
near Satuit Brook, generally spoken of as the "old 
tavern," and later called the "Satuit House." Both 
these houses have been called "Young's Tavern," and 
have often been confused, one for the other. Both were 
noted stopping-places for Scituate's stages, as the post- 
office was located in each while Gideon Young was 
postmaster. There was a tavern near Bisbee's Ferry on 
the North River, kept by Elisha Bisbee in 1700. Caleb 
Torrey had a tavern on the north side of Herring Brook 
Hill (South Scituate Village) soon after 1731. The old 
house was taken down in 1827, and stood where John 
Martin now lives. John Foster kept a tavern in the 
Dea. Hatherly Foster house. This was a noted tavern 
during the Revolution, as many town meetings of the 
period were held in it. Capt. Hayward, and his son, 
Elijah Peirce, kept a tavern in Capt. Michael's old 
house, that stood across the street from the present one. 
Dr. Peleg Ford's house at Greenbush was once a tavern, 
as the old sign in the possession of his granddaughter. 
Miss Mary Ann Ford, shows. David Jacob's tavern at 
Assinippi, and that of Capt. Enoch Collamore, both on 
the Boston road, were of about the same period as those 
previously mentioned.* 

* David Jacob's granddaughter Relief was mother of Hon. Charles 
Sumner. Jacob's Tavern was the large house occupied by the Rev. 
Mr. Killam in later years, and CoUamore's, that recently known as 
the William Farrar house. 



POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 



67 




"Queen Ann" Tavern 



Queen Ann's Corner gets its name from Ann Whiton, 
a notorious character who kept an inn in the old, long 
house just over the Hingham line. She was known as 
"Queen Ann," and the house was an inn until its last 
landlord, Davis Whitten, and his son-in-law, James 
Sivret, removed. 

Probably the most widely known tavern of its day on 
this old route was the "Half-Way House," a half mile 
east of Queen Ann's Corner, built in 1800 by Eliphalet 
Leonard. "Leonard's," as it was first called, was about 
half way between Boston and Plymouth. The coaches 
from Plymouth arrived in time for dinner, and the 
Sandwich coach, which left Boston at five o'clock 
in the morning, arrived in time for a nine o'clock 
breakfast. The meal hours were lively ones at this old 
hostelry, and many stories have been told of the con- 
vivial spirits of the guests. Whitten and Sivret succeeded 
Leonard as landlords, and they were followed in 1831 
by William Smith, of Duxbury. 

The South Shore House at the Harbor was a popular 
hostelry of later date, built by John Vinal about 1830, 



68 POST ROADS AND TAVERNS 

and was conducted for many years by his widow, who 
later married John Day Torrey. 

Daniel Webster purchased the 1500-acre farm once 
the home of the locally notorious Tory, Nathaniel Ray 
Thomas, in 1831, and to reach his Marshfield home he 
patronized the coach line through South Scituate. He 
generally alighted at the post-office there, and is said to 
have been always ready to discuss with much dignity 
the political situation with the local politicians. 

But the romantic days of chaise and stage-coach have 
gone to return no more, and the picturesque coach, with 
its four horses, its long-lashed whip, and genial driver, 
gave way to the long, ungainly "barge," itself replaced 
by the equally unsightly motor bus or jitney. 

A trip to Boston one hundred years ago was a real 
journey, which took a good part of one day, and the 
country merchant or shipbuilder, often one and the same, 
took several days off to attend to business and see the 
sights. If, from necessity, he must make a "flying trip," 
he could return on the following day, provided the coach 
reached the city in good season, for the Plymouth coach 
that went through Scituate in 1802 left King's Inn on 
Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings, and 
reached "Leonard's" in time for dinner. The leisurely 
traveler of 1821 hardly conceived of the changes that one 
hundred years would bring, through the development of 
electricity and motor vehicles, or even dreamed of such 
rapid transit from Scituate as a run from Egypt to 
Boston by the "Lawson Flier" in thirty-eight minutes. 



An Ancient Colonial 
Boundary 

LOOKING on the map of eastern Massachusetts one 
sees a line, practically straight, extending in a south- 
westerly direction from Scituate to the Rhode Island 
boundary. This line, about thirty-five miles long, sepa- 
rates townships for its whole length, and for the most 
part forms the boundary between Norfolk and Plymouth 
counties. Hingham and Hull, although belonging to the 
Colony of Massachusetts Bay, were never a part of 
Plymouth Colony, but have been in the County of 
Plymouth since 1803. The line is now a county bound- 
ary, with the exception that Hingham and Hull lie on 
the northerly side of it. This line, referred to in old 
records as the "Old Colony Line," "Patent Line," or 
"Patten Line," is the longest straight boundary sub-, 
dividing Massachusetts. It originally marked the 
division between the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the 
north and the Plymouth Colony on the south, thus 
separating Puritans from Pilgrims. It passes through 
the middle of Accord Pond, in whose depths lies the 
meeting point of three towns. 

This line was established in 1640 by John Endicott, 
Israel Stoughton, William Bradford, and Edward 
Winslow. All these except Israel Stoughton were govern- 
ors or ex-governors of the colonies — a very distinguished 
group of officials to lay out this important boundary. 
The beginning of the line was at "Bound Rock," close by 
the outlet of Lincoln's Mill Pond at North Scituate. 

We can picture to ourselves this little party of eminent 
men in their quaint colonial costumes starting from 
Bound Rock to lay out the line which should equitably 
separate the two colonies. Passing as it did through 
unmapped forest, it must have been a task of no small 

(69) 



70 AX ANCIENT COLONIAL BOUNDARY 

difficulty to place the bounds of this long, straight line. 
Even today the locating across miles of wild country ot 
high-tension electric lines is considered difficult. 

This "Old Colony Line" is, with one exception, the 
earliest artificial boundary located by landmarks in the 
United States. A line extending twelve miles across the 
peninsula, from Chesapeake Bay to the ocean, was 
established in 1632, and remains as a present boundary 
between Maryland and Virginia. The latter line was 
designated in a charter trom the King, while the 
Massachusetts Colony line was a mutual arrangement 
between the two colonies by their own appointed com- 
missioners. 



THIS TABLET 

IS ERECTED BY THE 

COMMONWEALTH 

ON THE BOUNDARY LINE 

BETWEEN THE PLYMOUTH 

AND MASSACHUSETTS 

COLONIES. 

BOUND ROCK 

THE STARTING POINT 

OF SAID LINE AS 

FIXED IN 1640 BY 

JO. ENDECOTT 

ISRAEL STOUGHTON 

WILLIAM BRADFORD 

AND 

EDWARD WINSLOW 

COMMISSIONERS OF THE 

TWO COLONIES 

LIES 133 FEET N. 52 DEGREES E. 

FROM THIS SPOT. 



AN ANCIENT COLONIAL BOUNDARY 71 

Bound Rock is underneath a storehouse of the grain 
mill originally owned by Mordecai Lincoln, on Mordecai 
Lincoln Road, at the outlet of Lincoln's Mill Pond, and 
is marked by a stone post, which projects upward through 
the floor of the building. As it was impracticable to 
mark the spot with a tablet, the memorial (a boulder 
with tablet) has been placed close to the main highway 
at the Cohasset line and resting against the boundary 
post at a point 133 feet distant from Bound Rock. The 
memorial was prepared and placed in position by the 
Old Colony Commission, appointed by the governor in 
1895, and consisting of William T. Davis, of Plymouth; 
Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, of Taunton; and L. 'Vernon 
Briggs, of Boston. It was erected in 1900. 




Quaker Meeting-House in Pembroke 



The Quakers in Scituate 

GEORGE FOX, the principal founder of this re- 
ligious sect, began to preach in England in 1647. 
He met with much opposition and persecution there, and 
his followers soon began to emigrate to New England, 
where they naturally expected that they would find a wel- 
come, or at least an opportunity to enjoy religious liberty. 
The first Quakers arrived in Boston in 1656, by way 
of Barbadoes. These were two women, named Mary 
Fisher and Ann Austin, and the year following eight 
more arrived through Rhode Island. But the Puritans, 
after suffering so much persecution themselves, began 
to find, now they were the ruling power, that their 
consciences were not elastic enough to cover the tenets 
of the Quaker faith, and the Quaker teachings imme- 
diately became obnoxious to the Massachusetts Colony. 
The general feeling of intolerance was not so strong in 
the Plymouth Colony, owing to the teachings of gentle 

(72) 



THE QUAKERS IN SCITUATE 73 

John Robinson, the Leyden pastor, and during the first 
year of their coming they spread over this colony. 

As early as 1656, the Massachusetts Colony took 
measures to try to rid the country of these "undesirable" 
persons, and a request was made that certain stringent 
laws be passed by the Commissioners of the United 
Colonies. x'\nother request was made in 1657 to banish 
the Quakers. Stern Thomas Prence, the governor, and 
a majority of his assistants, were less tolerant than the 
people at large, and by 1658 acquiesced in their banish- 
ment under pain of severe corporal punishment. If they 
returned, then to be punished accordingly and banished 
under pain of death; and on returning for a second time, 
to be put to death unless they publicly and plainly 
renounced their faith. The court of Massachusetts 
followed out this recommendation to its fullest extent, 
but to its everlasting credit the Plymouth Colony did not 
do so, for not all of Gov. Prence's assistants agreed to 
these stringent measures. At least three of our Scituate 
men suffered much persecution by their resistance to 
Gov. Prence's course. Isaac Robinson, son of the Leyden 
pastor. Gen. James Cuciworth, and Timothy Hatherly 
lost their official positions in 1658 on account of the firm 
stand they had taken in opposition. 

General, or, as he was then, Captain Cudworth being 
one of the most influential men in the colony, his influence 
must be destroyed at once, or his pernicious example 
would tempt other tolerant ones to do likewise. x'\t this 
time he was captain of the Scituate militia, an assistant 
of the government, and a commissioner of the United 
Colonies. A letter sent to England, of which he was 
suspected of being the author, telling of the bigotry of 
the Colonial Government, was produced, and another, to 
the governor, was construed to prove that he was in 
opposition to the administration, so he was removed 
from the magistracy and the board of commissioners, 
and the same year, 1658, deprived of his military com- 
mand. Even this did not degrade him enough to suit 



74 THE QUAKERS IN SCITUATE 

the austere Gov.Prence, so, in 1659, he was disfranchised, 
together with Isaac Robinson. We can but admire 
Capt. Cudworth's course during these persecutions. 
He remained quietly at home busying himself with his 
own affairs and those of the town of Scituate. His own 
town remained loyal to him, and in 1659 returned him as 
a deputy, but he was rejected by the court. 

The dignified course of Capt. Cudworth won him 
many friends, notably Josiah Winslow, and in 1673, on 
his election as governor, he tried to make amends for the 
treatment that had been meted to Cudworth under 
Prence's government. In the Colony Records, under date 
of July, 1673, is recorded the following: "Capt. 
Cudworth, by a full and clear vote, is accepted and re- 
established in the association and body of this 
Commonwealth," and the colony again was able to 
benefit by his valuable assistance and knowledge of the 
world, which was far greater than that of most men of 
his time. He was again made an assistant of the govern- 
ment, which office he held from 1674 to 1680. In 1675 he 
was chosen "General and Commander-in-Chief of all the 
forces that are, or may be sent forth against the enemy." 
This office he held till the close of King Philip's War. 

There is no definite statement that Gen. Cudworth 
allied himself with the Quaker church; in fact, he could 
not have held these public offices had he done so, but 
members of his family joined it, as the records show. 
His daughter Mary was married, in 1660, to Robert 
Whitcomb, by the Quaker ceremony. They were ar- 
rested the same night by the authorities, taken to 
Plymouth, and thrown into jail, there to remain until 
they should make up their minds to conform to the law, 
which they did a short time after. The Scituate Society 
of Friends owes so much to Cudworth that no account 
of them would be complete without mention of him. 

Little has been known until recently of Gen. Cud- 
worth's family connections in England. James 
Cudworth, Salter, came from London to Boston, 



THE QUAKERS IN SCITUATE 75 

according to Deane, in the year 1632, in company with his 
friend, Timothy Hatherly. His father was Rev. Ralph 
Cudworth, D. D., of Cambridge, England, a graduate 
of Emmanuel College, and rector of Alles in Somerset- 
shire. His mother is thought to have been Mary Machell, 
who belonged to the Saxon family of Machell, Lords in 
England. She was the nurse of Prince Henry, son of 
James I of England, the Prince of Wales, who died in 
1612. His brother Charles succeeded to the title and 
subsequently became Charles I of England. She married 
first Rev. Ralph Cudworth, who died in 1624, and 
afterwards married Rev. John Stoughton, D. D. 

In 1681, Gen. Cudworth was made deputy-governor, 
and when that same year an agent was to be sent to 
England, who so eminently fitted for it by family con- 
nection, education, and knowledge of colony affairs as he? 
He arrived in London in the autumn of the year 1682. 
x'\n epidemic of smallpox was raging there and he con- 
tracted the disease and died. His death was a severe 
blow to the colony, and to the town of Scituate especially. 
He was one of the few of the early settlers who were left 
in the town at this date. 

In 1661, the English Government abolished the severe 
laws passed by the colonies against the Quakers, and 
after this date they were able to meet less secretly. 

It is stated that John Rouse, of Marshfield, lost an ear 
for being an offensive Quaker, and when preaching was 
in progress in First Meeting-house, the Quakers would 
kick against the door and cry, "What thou preacheth is 
not true." 

In the year 1661, Edward Wanton came into Scituate, 
from Boston, and purchased a farm upon the North 
River, a little distance up the river from the Second 
Herring Brook. This farm of Wanton's is still known 
as the Wanton place, and the Wanton Shipyard. Here 
Edward Wanton built vessels with much success until 
after 1700. The yard was afterwards used by the 
Delanos and Fosters, who built many noted vessels there. 



76 THE QUAKERS IN SCITUATE 

Wanton had become a convert to the Quaker faith 
while in Boston, where three of that sect were executed in 
1659-60-61, and Edward was an officer of the guard on 
at least one of these occasions. So strongly moved was he 
by their demeanor and their addresses to the assembly, 
that on returning home he is said to have exclaimed, 
"Alas, mother! We have been murdering the Lord's 
people." Taking off his sword he made a solemn vow 
never to wear it again. 

He soon became a public teacher of their faith, and on 
coming to Scituate, in 1661, became the first Quaker 
teacher here. He soon gathered a considerable audience 
of converts from the Scituate families. Members of 
Cudworth's family were included among them, the 
family of Henry Ewell, various members of the Colman 
family, Randalls, Barkers, Northeys, and others. Ed- 
ward Wanton continued as a religious teacher till his 
death, in October, 1716, at the age of 85 years. He was 
buried in the Wanton yard, but no stone now marks 
the spot. Two sons of Edward Wanton, William and 
John, deserted the Quaker faith and became famous for 
some military exploits. All four of Edward's sons 
settled finally in Newport, R. I. Two were governors 
of that state. 

1740 is the date of the removal from Scituate of the 
last of this famous family. The Wanton place then 
passed to the Stetson family, who probably occupied it 
until purchased by Benj. Delano, in 1770. The house 
was last occupied by the Stetsons, and was known as 
the Molly Stetson place at the time it was purchased by 
Benj. Delano. 

The first Quaker meeting-house was built in 1678, on 
land purchased from Henry Ewell, who lived at Walnut 
Tree Hill. This lot was later enclosed in the garden of 
Chief Justice Gushing. In 1706, a second church was 
built on Edward Wanton's land. Their numbers were 
increasing up the river, and correspondingly decreasing 
below. The church undoubtedly stood near to the 



THE QUAKERS IN SCITUATE 77 

burying-place of the Wanton tamily, which can yet be 
located by two stones. One known as the Webb stone 
bears the inscription, "Mary Webb, ye wife of Edward 
Webb of Boston — died ye 23d 8m. 1708." A fragment 
of the stone of Judah Butler, a grandson of John Rogers, 
yet remains. John Rogers, according to tradition, was a 
descendant of the Smithfield martyr, and came to 
Scituate with Mr. Witherell in 1644. Rogers became a 
convert to the Quaker faith in 1660. 

The church located on W'anton's land in 1706 was 
removed to Pembroke, but in what year the removal 
took place is not known. It is said to have been taken 
up the river on gundalows to its present location near 
North River Bridge. At some time the house was 
divided, and part of it converted into a dwelling-house. 
The part left for a church is still owned by the Society 
of Friends, and stands near Schooset Street. Briggs 
stated in 1889 that the society consisted of twenty 
or thirty members. 

The families of Daniel Otis and Adam Brooks were 
the last of the Quakers in Scituate. 



The Acadians 

**^T^HE most momentous and far-reaching question 
-*• ever brought to issue on this continent was: 
Shall France remain here or shall she not?" The 
most tragic chapter in the history of the long conflict 
between that country and Great Britain is that dealing 
with the deportation of the Acadians. In our local 
history, the heartrending events connected with this 
enforced exile have an added meaning for two reasons: 
first, because some of these unfortunate people were 
landed in our Plymouth County towns, where they 
were forced to remain in their destitution; and second, 
because the orders of Governor Lawrence for their 
deportation from Grand Pre and neighboring districts 
were carried out by Maj. John Winslow, of Marshfield, 
under commission from Governor Shirley, of Massa- 
chusetts. 

By the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, Acadia was given 
over to Great Britain by France. It was "expressly 
stipulated" in the treaty that such of the French 
inhabitants as "are willing to remain there and to be 
subject to the Kingdom of Great Britain are to enjoy 
the free exercise of their religion according to the usage 
of the Church of Rome, as far as the laws of Great 
Britain do allow the same." Should any so choose, 
they might remove with all their eflects, if they did so 
within the year. At the end of that time, all within the 
province must take the oath of allegiance to the British 
Crown. Few left the province. 

Every effort was now made by France, and her 
agents in Quebec and Acadia, to prevent the taking of 
the oath of allegiance, and to keep the province hostile 
to England. The French priests were among the most 
active; when not so, complaints were entered against 
them, as, for example, the Cure of Grand Pre, an 

(78) 



THE ACADIANS 79 

elderly man, was reported to be too much inclined to 
confine himself to his spiritual functions. 

There is no evidence to show that the Acadians were 
ill treated by the English. They were not molested in 
the exercise of their religion; on the testimony of French 
officers, there was no interference in their disputes 
among one another as to land boundaries, and many 
other rights which were claimed; there was no attempt 
even to punish their crimes. There is not much room for 
doubt that, had they been left to themselves, they 
would in time have become peaceful citizens, not 
troubling themselves with any affairs of government. 
But this was not to be — Acadia was too fair a land not 
to be fought for by every means, fair and foul. Its 
people finally became mere "tools of policy, to be used, 
broken, and flung away." 

It was not until 1730 that any number of Acadians 
could be persuaded to take the oath. Nearly all these 
signed by crosses, in spite of the threats of the priests. 
It was claimed later that the oath was taken on condition 
that they be exempt from bearing arms against the 
French and Indians, or in any war against the Kingdom 
of England. On account of this interpretation they 
came to be known as "Neutrals." At first, they did not 
violate their oath, even under pressure from the French 
on the north; finally, however, the charges became so 
general that some of them took arms, and many 
others aided the enemy with information and with 
supplies. The forty and more years of clemency in 
government had seemed to be of no avail. Efforts had 
been unceasing to keep the people French at heart, and 
to win back Acadia to France. No progress had been 
made in permanent settlement; the prospect of a French 
invasion at any time seemed more than likely. With 
the feeble garrisons at Annapolis and Canseau, an attack 
loomed as great danger. The Acadians were, in truth, 
enemies in the heart of the province. 



80 THE ACADIANS 

At length, in 1755, Governor Lawrence determined on 
his course of action, and, as he wrote to Governor 
Shirley "to make some effort to drive them from the 
north shore of the Bay of Fundy," Shirley immediately 
commissioned John Winslow to raise 2,000 volunteers to 
transport to Acadia. After many vexatious delays, the 
troops finally set sail in three small frigates for Annapolis, 
where they landed on May 26, 1755. Instructions were 
given to Winslow to secure the inhabitants on or near 
the Bay of Fundy, and place them on the transports, 
which were later to be provided. His orders were 
stringent: "If you find that fair means will not do with 
them, you must proceed by the most vigorous measures 
possible, not only in compelling them to embark, but in 
depriving those who shall escape of all means of shelter 
or support, by burning their houses, and by destroying 
everything that may afford them the means of subsist- 
ence in the country." Three months went by, but in 
September the blow fell. The inhabitants about Grand 
Pre were summoned, on the fifth of September, to meet at 
the church, to hear the proclamation of the Governor, 
and similar summonses were sent in other directions. Here 
it was announced to them that, "by orders of His Majesty, 
all the French inhabitants of these districts are to be 
removed. And I am directed to allow you the liberty of 
carrying with you your money, and as many of your 
household goods as you can take without overloading 
the vessels you go in. I shall do everything in my power 
that all these goods be secured to you . . . and also 
that whole families shall go in the same vessel." They 
were then declared prisoners of the King. In Major 
Winslow's diary we read: "Thus ended the memorable 
fifth of September, a day of great fatigue and trouble." 
To Murray, at Fort Edward, he writes: "Things are now 
very heavy on my heart and hand." 

There was great delay in embarking the prisoners. 
The transports arrived slowly, so that it was late in 
December before the last were sent away. The whole 



THE ACADIANS 81 

number of inhabitants removed from the province was a 
little more than 6,000, about 2,000 of whom were landed 
in Boston, to be distributed through the towns of the 
province. They were most unwelcome charges. Taken 
from their homes with little but their clothing, crowded 
in the closely packed transports, they were in a pitiable 
condition by the time that they reached the towns 
upon which they were billeted. They represented a 
government which had been long at war with the English, 
and which had committed many atrocities upon the 
colonists in connection with their Indian allies. They 
were said to have been more kindly treated in Massa- 
chusetts than in many places, nevertheless their sufferings 
were great, as proved by documents in the state archives. 
The people asserted that "the receiving among us of so 
great a number of persons whose gross bigotry to the 
Catholic religion is notorious, is very disagreeable." 

The method adopted for their care by the towns was 
similar to that given the town's poor at the time; they 
were put out to the lowest bidder for their support, and 
this bidder received the result of their labor. Many 
pitiful petitions were sent to Governor Shirley, some of 
them heartrending in character. Among them is found 
the petition of John and Peter Trahan, of Scituate, 

which reads: 

Boston, May 4th, 1756. 

To the Honorable His Majesty's Council 
of the Massachusetts Bay: 

The petition of John and Peter Trahan, late inhabitants of Nova 
Scotia, Humbly Showeth, — That your petitioners the said John, aged 
twenty-six years, the said Peter twenty-four, are threatened to be 
separated from their parents by the Selectmen of Scituate, in which 
town they are placed, and where indeed they endure many hardships, 
and have been denied any provisions for fifteen days past, which 
makes them the more unwilling to be separated from their Parents, 
since they are desirous to do what they can for their relief. Your 
Petitioners pray your Honour would order them relief in this case, 
and to be continued with their parents. 

In 1759, one hundred and fifty-six Neutrals were in 
the towns of Plymouth County. Late in 1755, or early 
in 1756, forty were sent by water from Boston to Scituate. 



82 



THE ACADIANS 



Seventeen were left there in the care of Joseph Clap, 
and ten of this number were later sent to Joseph Jacob, of 
Assinippi. Joseph Clap lived at Black Pond Hill, on the 
Black Pond road. Nine Neutrals were carried to Han- 
over, and Mr. Dwelley tells us were placed in the care 
of John Bailey, on South Main Street. They were the 
members of one family by name of Brean, and were 
finally lodged in the old house in the "Cricket Hole," 




House in the "Cricket Hole" 



destroyed by fire a few years ago. In the accompanying 
picture of this old house, probably old when they were 
lodged there, can be seen the spire of the church at 
Church Hill, and some of the dwellings near it. The 
other picture is that of the house in Hingham that 
sheltered some of that town's allotment. It was removed 
from its site beside Derby Academy when the Town 
Office Building was placed on the lot. Built on the side 
of the hill, the cellar on one side was above ground, and 
in this part of the house the Neutrals were lodged. 

Leading from the Black Pond road, a half-mile east of 
Mt. Blue, is a pathway known as "Cuffee's Lane." This 
cart-path passed through the lands of Joseph Clap, 



THE ACADIANS 



83 




Acadian House," at Hingham 



owned by his descendants for two or three generations. 
In a small hut at the end of this lane, it is said, lived 
the French Neutrals placed in his charge. This hut, in 
Revolutionary days, was the home of Simeon Granderson, 
otherwise known as "Cuffee," a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion, from Scituate. This tradition concerning their 
temporary dwelling place for a few years is the only 
remaining trace of this unfortunate people within our 
town. It is likely that some of the older ones rest in our 
burying-grounds in unmarked graves, and others may 
have joined the expedition which set out from Boston in 
1776 to return on foot to their former home in Nova 
Scotia. This expedition numbered about eight hundred. 
They began their march for Acadia across the New 
Hampshire and Maine wilderness without proper food or 
clothing. They had some firearms, and subsisted on the 
way by hunting and fishing. Their journey lasted four 
months, during which time children were born and many 
deaths occurred. Some made settlements along the way, 
and those who succeeded in reaching Grand Pre found 
there a new nationality and new names; so turning 
sorrowfully away, they settled at St. Mary's. 




Williams-Barker House 



Seventeenth Century Houses 

STANDING within the original limits of the town are 
a number of dwellings built as early as in the seven- 
teenth century by pioneer settlers, or by those of the next 
generation. One of the most noteworthy of these houses is 
the old Williams-Barker house, on Barker's Lane, leading 
from what was later known as Jericho Road, on the 
north side of the Harbor. It was built as early as 1634, 
and a part of the original dwelling, which still remains 
included in the present house, is said to be the oldest 
structure within the original limits of the town. Its 
heavy beams and wooden walls, once pierced for port- 
holes, bear witness to its use as a garrison house in 1676. 
One of the portholes can still be seen within the living- 
room of the house, the present front of the house having 
been added to the south side of the first structure. 

John Williams, the builder of the house, came to 
Scituate with Mr. Hatherly from London. That he was 
of the same family as Oliver Cromwell is a tradition in 
our town, and has this in its favor, that the Great Pro- 
tector's name was originally Williams, and was changed 

(84) 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 85 

to Cromwell to please a maternal aunt, who wished not 
to have her family name pass into oblivion. 

John Williams' wife's name was Ann, and their son, 
Capt. John Williams, inherited the farm. He was 
captain of the military company which pursued King 
Philip to Mount Hope, and commanded the right wing 
of the ambuscade when the chief was killed. He was 
prominent in civic affairs and was a deputy to the 
Colony Court in 1677, also in later years. 

He died in 1694, and his slate gravestone, the oldest 
stone in the burying-ground on Meeting-house Lane, 
can still be seen. In his will, dated 1691, he bequeathed 
the house and 200 acres of land to his grand-nephew, 
Williams Barker, of Marshfield. To his servant, John 
Bailey, he gave the land at Farm Neck on which the 
said Bailey lived. It is known today as the Bailey Farm. 

The old house, passing by direct descent from father 
to son, remained in the Barker family until after the 
Revolution, when Capt. Williams, grandson of the first 
Williams Barker, went to Wiscasset, Me., and sold 
the Scituate farm to his cousin Benjamin for ?1,000. 
The latter never lived on the farm, and it passed to his 
son, Samuel Partridge Barker, who married Catherine, 
daughter of Judge Gooch. 

The Gooch family was a wealthy and aristocratic 
family of Boston. The portraits of the Judge and his 
two wives hung in the Barker house for many years, 
and two of the portraits are now loaned to the Scituate 
Historical Society. They have been pronounced genuine 
Copleys. Other portraits, cherished as heirlooms, hung 
in the house and were said to have been painted by 
Copley's pupils. Certain of these are now loaned to the 
Worcester Art Museum. 

The farm and house were sold in 1910 to a syndicate 
known as the x^llen Associates. The two hundred acres 
were divided into lots and offered for sale. Thus the old 
farm, in possession of one family for two hundred and 
seventy-six years, has met its fate. The house, enlarged 



f 



86 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



a number of times by members of the succeeding genera- 
tions, is now known as the "Hatherly Inn." 

The last owner of the Barker name to whom the home 
descended was Otis, grandson of Samuel Partridge 
Barker and Catherine Gooch. He was born in the old 
home in 1856, and now lives in California. 




Briggs-Collier House 



The Briggs-Collier House at 
"The Farms" 

SCITUATE was settled first at that part of the 
town known as the Harbor, but soon the attrac- 
tions of the northern end of the land drew to it a 
few of the settlers. Prominent among these was Timothy 
Hatherly, one of those men who, in all communities, by 
their natural abilities, enterprise, and judgment, soon 
become leaders. In 1639, he, with Beaumont, Andrews, 
and Shirley, received a grant of land "extending from 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 87 

high-water mark three miles up into the wood." In- 
cluded in this was the land known as Farm Neck, and 
here Timothy Hatherly made his home in 1637. A few 
years ago, Mr. Azro Turner, while ploughing in his field 
west of Musquashcut Pond, uncovered a hearth made of 
square English bricks. Here was undoubtedly the site 
of Hatherly's house. 

A few rods east of this spot, near the shore of the pond, 
stands an old pear tree which has grown out of the roots 
of a tree of a still greater age. The fact that this tree 
still stands where no orchard has been within the memory 
of the oldest inhabitant, together with its great age, 
probably marks it as the last vestige of that orchard 
which Hatherly mentions in a subsequent deed in 1651. 

A greater difference can hardly be imagined than that 
existing between the Farm Neck of Hatherly's time and 
the Farm Neck of today. Then the land was acquired 
for the purpose of wringing from it a livelihood, however 
precarious, and it brought about an average of $3.00 an 
acre. Today the land in this region is devoted largely to 
those on bent of pleasure, and brings a price of which the 
early settlers would never have dreamed. What would 
Timothy Hatherly have thought of the purchase of ten 
acres of his farm to furnish our frivolous summer resi- 
dents with grounds for golt, tennis, and baseball? 

Two hundred and fifty years ago the inhabitant of this 
region sat in his living-room at night, lighted by a home- 
made tallow dip, and warmed only by the fire of logs. 
The only sound which broke the silence was the howling 
of the wolves in the uncleared forest.* 

It may be asked why, in the solitvide and loneliness of 
the New England wilderness, men should prefer to 
separate from one another and choose homes as far from 

* In early times wolves, wildcats, beavers, and deer were tound in 
the forests. That wolves were numerous is evident from the passage 
of laws requiring the town in 1642 to maintain four wolf traps, and in 
1665 two wolf traps. By the colony laws it appears also that a 
bounty of four bushels of corn was given for every wolt killed, and 
for a wolf killed by an Indian, "a coat of trading cloth." 



88 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

their friends as the boundaries of the colony would allow 
them to go. There are many answers. First, in order to 
get a patch of ground unwooded, it was necessary to go 
a long distance from the next neighbor. Second, where 
no settlement of any size had been established, one loca- 
tion was as little isolated as another, because it did not 
suffer from comparison, and there is no doubt that 
Timothy Hatherly felt less lonely in his home west of 
Musquashcut Pond in 1637 than some of the inhabi- 
tants of Farm Neck do now in our winter evenings. As 
a matter of fact, Hatherly seemed to be a man who 
wanted plenty of elbow room, for in 1636 he complained 
to Plymouth that things were "too strait" in Scituate, 
and the next year we find him in Conihasset. 

Another reason potent in drawing settlers to Farm 
Neck was the salt meadows. At that time the uplands 
were covered with forests and the salt grass was highly 
prized. Indeed, so valuable were the salt meadows that 
Hingham made repeated and insistent attempts to have 
them included in her boundaries, but Scituate knew a 
good thing when she saw it and stoutly stuck to her 
"three score acres" of salt marsh until the boundary 
between the two towns was finally decided to be the 
natural one of the "Gulph and Bound Brook." 

Perhaps these advantages of Farm Neck brought it 
too many settlers for Timothy Hatherly, who even in 
1636 had found Scituate "too strait" for him; for in 1651 
he sold out and removed to the Harbor. This remarkable 
man, the founder of Scituate, to whose foresight and de- 
termination Scituate owes much of her prosperity, is 
remembered in this town only by a schoolhouse, a 
country club, and a road. 

Note: The new Hatherly Road passes directly by the site of his 
house and by his pear tree on the shore of Musquashcut Pond. 

In 1651 there appears in the Conihasset records a deed 
from Timothy Hatherly conveying the Hatherly farm, 
known as the Musquashcut farm, to Walter Briggs, 
farmer. It consisted of house, barn, outbuildings, and 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 89 

300 acres, lying west of Musquashcut Pond, the consid- 
eration being 200 guineas. The harbor formed by the 
jutting out into the sea of the Glades Point, known as 
Musquashcut Harbor and Strawberry Cove, then became 
known as Briggs' Harbor, a name it retains today. 

It is probable that Walter Briggs, soon after he came 
into possession of his new purchase, built the house now 
standing on the cliff and known as the "Old Collier 
house." Whether the meeting of the commission to 
decide the boundary between Scituate and Cohasset, and 
settle the fate of the"three score acres," was held in the 
old or the new house will probably never be known. Cer- 
tain it is that Walter Briggs left by his will, dated 1676, 
two houses or homesteads, one of which is still standing. 

The name of Walter Briggs does not appear among the 
Conihasset Partners, nor does it stand among the founders 
of either of the Scituate churches. He is referred to in 
the deed simply as Walter Briggs, farmer of Scituate, 
and it is probable that he was one of those men of solid 
worth, ever ready to do his duty as a citizen, but without 
becoming a leader. 

We can imagine him now, for the next twenty-five 
years, pursuing his peaceful occupation of farmer, 
clearing the land of trees and stones, and converting 
them into fences and walls. That he was thrifty we have 
no doubt, for in his will he left to his heirs all the land he 
bought of Timothy Hatherly, which probably included 
nearly all of Farm Neck, with the exception of the Glades. 

In the Plymouth Colony Records we find he was once 
complained of for slander by Edward Tart, of Scituate, 
to the damage of £100. The jury found for the plaintiff 
only the amount of 20 shillings, showing perhaps that 
Walter told the truth, but that the truth should not be 
told at all times, especially about your neighbors. This 
was in 1649, before he moved to Conihasset, and was 
perhaps one of the reasons which led him to buy the 
300-acre farm and build his house where he would not 
be troubled by complaining neighbors — his nearest 



90 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

one being Gen. James Cudworth, who lived near Little 
Musquashcut Pond, in Egypt. 

This farm on the Scituate shore, 250 years ago, is a 
fascinating subject of thought: Walter Briggs and his 
three sons, tilling the land and harvesting the crops, 
hauling the winter supply of wood for the big fireplace, 
and teaming the kelp from the beach as a fertilizer for 
the farm. In this labor he was assisted by his slaves. 
How many he possessed is not known, but in his will he 
bequeaths to his wife "the little neger girl Maria to be 
her servant," and directed his son John to provide his 
mother with a "gentle horse or mare to ride to meeting 
or on any occasion she may have, and that Jemmy the 
neger fetch it for her." To what church Goodwife 
Briggs was accustomed to ride is uncertain, for at that 
time there were two churches in Scituate, one having 
for its principal tenet the doctrine of immersion; and 
the other opposing that doctrine. The place of the 
church in the lives of the people of that time can be 
judged by a perusal of this will of Walter Briggs, which 
should not be passed by, as it shows in a very real way 
the conditions of life in Plymouth Colony two and a halt 
centuries ago. 

As will be seen by the will, Walter Briggs left to his two 
sons, John and James, his real estate in Scituate, which 
contained, besides the 300-acre farm, 84 acres granted 
to him by the town. This latter was not divided 
until 1750. The sons allowed the tarm to remain un- 
divided during their lifetime, and it was not until after 
their death that their sons, John and Joseph, made an 
actual division of the 300 acres. But this division was 
not for long, for John was evidently not of a bucolic dis- 
position, and sold his share of the ancestral acres to his 
cousin Joseph, and removed to Boston. When we next 
hear of him he is spoken of as "John Briggs, gentleman," 
while his cousin Joseph is still called "yeoman." 

Joseph Briggs had three wives and three daughters; 
one daughter, Judith, remained unmarried. Either 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 91 

because Judith was single at the time he made his will, 
in 1747, or because she was his favorite daughter, he left 
her one-half his real estate and one-third his personal 
property, the real estate including the old Briggs home- 
stead. That same year Joseph Briggs steps off the stage, 
and with him the name of Briggs from the history of the 
old house. The lands were divided never to be reunited, 
and the Walter Briggs farm becomes a thing of tradition. 

The next year, 1748, William Collier, a descendant of 
Thomas Collier, one of the early settlers of Hingham, 
steps upon the scene, captures the maiden Judith, 
takes her unto himself with her fertile farm and com- 
fortable homestead. Their son, Isaac Collier, bore arms 
in the Revolution, and was enrolled in the company of 
Capt. Samuel Stockbridge, in Col. Thomas' regiment, 
in the operation before Boston, May to August, 1775; 
also in the expedition to Bristol, R. I., in March, 1775, 
in the company of Capt. Hayward Peirce. He married 
Tamsen Hayden and raised a family of sixteen children 
in the old house. Of these sixteen, James Collier went 
to Cohasset and married Sally Lincoln; but in 1845 
came back to the old house in Scituate, built the ell on 
the old place, and there died in 1850. By his will his 
estate was left to his grandchildren, and when the prop- 
erty was finally settled, the old homestead fell to the 
writer, a grandchild. So the particular spot of ground 
on which the old house stands was in the same family 
for 250 years. 

Many interesting things might be told of the old 
home. The old living-room well bore its part in service 
to the town, for it was the scene of the dame school kept 
by Aunt Mary and Aunt Ann Collier. On the beach 
near by, wreck after wreck came ashore, and more than 
once the floor of this same old living-room has been the 
bed of shipwrecked sailors stretched out with their feet to 
the great fireplace, some of them never to wake on earth. 

In 1851, the lighthouse gale, as it was called, destroyed 
Minot's Ledge Lighthouse, and the field between 



92 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

Musquashcut Pond and the sea was changed from a fer- 
tile cornfield into a waste of sand and stubble in a single 
night. As we leave this ancient dwelling place, let us, 
in imagination, fancy ourselves in the old living-room in 
the time of Walter Briggs, 250 years ago. The steady, 
glowing fire lights the faces of Walter and Goodwife 
Frances; Hannah, the daughter, is there with three 
sturdy brothers, John, James, and Cornelius, who com- 
plete the family group. The negroes are called in, the 
evening devotions are held, and the solitary household is 
soon in slumber, lulled to sleep by the beating of the 
waves on the ocean shore.* 

Will of Walter Briggs 

In ye name of God, Amen, ye 16th. day of January in 
ye year of our Lord God 1676, I, Walter Briggs in ye 
jurisdiction of New Plymouth in New England, in 
America, Yeoman, being aged, but of sound mind & 
perfect micmory (praise be given to God for ye same) 
& caling into remembrance ye uncertaine estate of this 
transitory life & that all flesh must settle unto deathe 
when it shall please God to call & being desirouse to 
settle things in order, do make, constitute, ordain, & 
declare this my last will & testament in manner & forme 
following, revoking & annuling by these presents all & 
every testament or testaments, will or wills, heretofore 
made by me, & declared, either by word or by writing & 
this to be taken for mylast will and testament,& no other. 

& First & principally I recommend my soule unto Al- 
mighty God, my Creator assuredly believing I shall 
reseave full pardon & free remission for all my sins & 
be saved by ye precious blood & meritts of my blessed 
Savior & Redeemer, Jesus Christ, &, my body to ye 
earth from which it came, to be buried in a decent & 
Christian manner as to my executor, hereafter named, 
shall be thought & meet convenient, & As touching such 

*Written by E. P. Collier, 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 93 

worldly estate as ye Lord in mercy hath lent me, my 
will & meaning is, the same shall be imployed & bestowed 
as hereafter in this my will, is expressed. 

I give and bequeath unto my loving wife, Frances 
Briggs, 6 pounds per annum, during her life, to be paid 
by my executor hereafter named, in corn or cattle or any 
other pay. 

I give & bequeath unto my said wife one of ye two 
beds we lay on and ye furniture belonging to it, to be att 
her dispose when she dye. I bequeath unto my said wife 
during her life, ye loer rooms of ye west side of my 
dwelling house & libertie of a third part of ye sellar & 
room in ye chamber over ye sellar to put anythings as 
she may have occasion for & libertie to make use of 
potts, kettles, & other vessels commonly made use of 
in ye house, that she may use them as she has occasion 
but not to dispose of them. & I will her liberty of keeping 
2 swine & I will her liberty to make use of ye two gardens 
& she to have % & my executor M of what she raiseth 
of them. I will that my executor allow my said wife a gen- 
tle horse or mare to ride to meeting or any other occa- 
sion she may have & that Jemmy ye neger catch it for her. 

x'\lso I will give my said wife, Mariah ye little neger 
gerle, to be with her so long as my wife lives, provided 
she continue at Conihasset. I give & bequeath unto my 
sone John Briggs as or for a homestead, my dwelling 
house with all barnes, outhousing, yards & ye gardens 
belonging to it, with my orchard, barne, field, & ye 
field of ye northerly end of ye barne field & from ye 
northwest corner of my son James Briggs his field, 
near ye bars at ye going out with a straight line towards 
ye southwest to southwest southerly to Mr. John 
Baffin's land; this I setled upon my son John Briggs, 
his heirs & assignes, forever, he & they allowing my wife 
to enjoy that out of ye premises which is before willed 
her during her life. 

I give & bequeath unto my son James Briggs as & for 
a homestead ye house he dwells in, with ye whole field 



94 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

within which his house stands & from ye southwest 
corner of ye sheep pen on a straight line towards ye 
sow-west to a maple tree by ye fence, unto ye fence of 
ye barne field & by ye fence round his barne untill it 
comes to ye barrs going into James his field, near ye 
northwest corner of ye sheep pen & in case this falls 
short in quantity of that settled on my sonn John, then 
my mind & will is that ye full quantity of ye lands be 
made up of ye lands adjoyning to ye field, in equal 
breadth, from end to end, & this I settle upon my son 
James Briggs, his heirs & assignes forever. 

& My mind & will is that during ye life of my wife, 
that my son John Briggs take ye profitt & benefitt of Vi 
of all ye rest of my land undivided & my son James 
Briggs % of ye profitt thereof but after my wife's 
decease, my mind& will is, that all my lands in Scittuate 
not devided as before shall be equally divided betwixt 
my son John & my son James, allwayes being provided 
& so it is to be understood & no otherwise, in case my 
son James pay a legasie of 40 pounds unto his sister 
Hannah Winslow, within one year after my wife's 
decease which legasie of 40 pounds I doe, by these 
presents, give & bequeath unto my daughter Hannah 
Winslow. But in case he shall refuse or neglect to pay 
ye same as aforesaid, then my will is, that son John 
Briggs pay ye same legasie of 40 pounds unto my daugh- 
ter Hannah Winslow & then my mind & will is that my 
son John shall have % of all ye land undevided as 
aforesaid, unto him, his heires, & assignes forever. 

I do give & bequeath unto my son Cornelius Briggs 
one whole freeman's share of land that already apper- 
tains unto a share or shall ever after appertaine, in 
Swansey & on ye easterly side of Tanton River & on ye 
eastward — or elsewhere, & this I bequeath to my son 
Cornelius, his heirs, & assignes forever. 

Also I give & bequeath unto my son Cornelius 30 
pounds, to be paid him within 1 year after my decease, by 
my executor hereafter named. All ye rest of my goods 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 95 

& chatties, movables, & immovables, not mentioned nor 
disposed of, I give to my eldest sonn John Briggs, 
whom I make & appoint to be sole executor of this my 
last will & testament. In witness whereof I have here- 
unto sett my hand & seale ye day & year first above 
mentioned. Mem. I give & bequeath to my executor 
10 pounds in money to defray my funoralle expenses — 
this before sealing. 

Walter Briggs — his seal. 

Signed sealeci & declared by Walter Briggs to be his 
last will & testament in ye presence of 

William Hatch, 
James Cudworth. 

William Hatch testified upon oath before ye court that 
he did see Walter Briggs signe, seale, & declare this 
above written to be his last will & testament done 
before ye court att Plymouth this 4th June, 1684. 

Nathaniel Morton, Sec. 

The Joshua Otis House 

THE Joshua Otis house stands on what was known 
as the Turner farm, at the Sand Hills. 

This house is said by the late Charles Otis EUms 
to have been built as early as 1644 by some one ot 
the name of House, one of the first settlers of Scituate. 
Nothing seems to be known about him, and he may have 
lived there but a short time. The house has been re- 
modeled several times, but the original part can be 
discovered on the right of the picture. The next owner 
of record appears to be Joshua, son of Capt. Stephen 
Otis, who in 1735 married Hannah Barker, daughter ot 
Samuel and Hannah Barker, of the Barker farm. 

Joshua, Jr., was the next owner. He married Mary 
Thaxter, of Hingham, and died in 1822, at the age of 
seventy-four. To distinguish her from many other Otises 
she was called "Mrs. Farm Otis," living as she did on the 



96 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



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The Joshua Otis House 



great Otis farm, while others of the family lived in the 
village. Joshua, Jr., was sent to Harvard College, and 
being of a social and lively temperament, took part in all 
the sports and society life of the college. A college play 
was acted by the collegians, called "The Day of Judg- 
ment," in which young Otis took the part of the devil, 
dressed in scarlet. This gave offense to the college 
authorities, and he was expelled, never to return. He 
was an ardent patriot in the Revolution, and entered 
heart and soul into the cause of independence. His wife 
was just as strong in her sympathy for her King George, 
and many hot discussions they had. 

When her son was born, in 1775, she insisted that he be 
named George for her beloved King, and after much 
talk her husband was at last obliged to promise her that 
at the baptism he should have that name. So the father 
took the baby away to be baptized, and when he came 
back, the baby rejoiced in the name of George Washing- 
ton Otis. The result in the household is not recorded, 
but the child grew up and was the late George Washing- 
ton Otis, of Boston, whose son was Mayor James Otis, 
of San Francisco. 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 97 

His wife's sister, Sally Thaxter, of Hingham, married 
Capt. John Pulling, who is said to have hung the lanterns 
"One if by land, two if by sea," in the old North Church 
for Paul Revere, on his ride to Lexington and Concord. 

When Madam Derby (called Darby), of Hingham, 
who founded Derby Academy, was married to the 
wealthy merchant of Salem, there was a week of festivity 
in Hingham. The Crowninshields and other guests 
came over from Salem in a sloop, bringing wedding gifts 
and a pipe of wine. Dinners were given and Joshua Otis 
was frequently toastmaster. Sometimes the drinking ot 
so many toasts interfered with his speech a bit, as when 
he once introduced Capt. Crowninshield, he stammered, 

"Here's to Capt. - — ■ — ■ Here's to Capt. " and at 

last he exclaimed, "Here's to Capt. Foundation." 

The wedding ring of Mary Thaxter was in possession 
of Charles Otis Ellms, her great-grandson, and her wed- 
ding gown is preserved in the Art Museum of Boston. 

Mary Thaxter Otis lived to be ninety-two, a widow, 
with her two maiden daughters, Sally and Abigail, in the 
Otis house. They were well-educated, intelligent gentle- 
women of the old school. They did most exquisite em- 
broidery, which they often presented to their friends. 
Their sister Mary married, in 1801, Charles Ellms, of 
Scituate, and continued to live in a part of the farm- 
house after her marriage. Here they reared their 
family, and at last came into possession of the estate by 
buying out the other heirs. Their three children in- 
herited the property, but Charles sold out his portion 
and bought a farm on Brushy Hill, opposite the house of 
Parson Thomas. The Otis house and farm were then 
divided between the two remaining heirs, Mary and 
Joshua Otis, each having half the house and land. 

Here J. Otis Ellms, as he was called, entertained the 
first "summer visitors," who came to Scituate fifty 
years ago. Otis Ellms' children were brought up in the 
old house, and they finally sold their shares in the estate 
to James Nathaniel Turner, son of Nathaniel and Mary 



98 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

EUms Turner, who has opened the land for building 
summer cottages, while the old house is now occupied by 
his son James. 

Sergeant Samuel Stetson House, on Cornet 
Stetson Road, South Scituate 

SERGEANT SAMUEL," the fourth son of Cornet 
Robert Stetson, of Scituate, and Honor, his wife, 
was born in Scituate, June, 1646. 

In the year 1700, the Cornet, being in his eighty-eighth 
year, deeded to "son Samuel" the "land on which the 
said Samuel now dwells;" hence we know the house was 
occupied by Sergeant Samuel and his family at this date. 
As Samuel at this time had been married twenty-two 
years, and already had a family of ten children, we natu- 
rally suppose he built the house about the time he was 
married — 1678. 

George Stearns, a brother of R. H. Stearns, the 
Boston merchant, owned the house for some years, and 
resided there. He "put out" knitting work for the 
Stearns store in Boston among the women of the 
locality, and for some years this was a source of con- 
siderable "pin money" for these workers. (See "Cornet 
Robert Stetson.") 

The King House 

BETWEEN the years 1676 and 1680, "Dea. Thomas 
King" bought land west of Stony Cove Brook. 
He was born at Belle House Neck in 1645, and 
owned a house on the north side of Rotten Marsh in 1666, 
where he probably lived, after his marriage with Elizabeth 
Clap, three years later, until he built his new house at 
Stony Cove Brook. His house is still standing on the 
main road in South Scituate, on the easterly corner of 
what is now known as Parker Street, formerly Pincin 
Lane. It was built before 1680, on land which was a 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



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The King House 



part of the eighty acres allotted to Anthony x'\nnable in 
1636. Thomas Rawlins bought this tract in 1648, and 
built a house on the same site as that afterwards occupied 
by the King house. His son, Nathaniel, inherited the 
home, and after his death, in 1662, it was occupied by his 
widow, who later married Edward Wright. 

In the Indian raid of May, 1676, the house was burned 
to the ground. It is probable that the large family of 
young children were safely sheltered at the Block House, 
with the families of other settlers, as news of the oncom- 
ing Indians had been received the day before at Hingham. 

Shortly after the raid, Dea. Thomas King acquired 
the land by purchase. He was a wealthy man for that 
day. By his father's will he received a goodly inheritance 
both in Scituate and in England. At his death, in 1711, 
the estate, with the homestead, was given to his youngest 
son, George, who was living there at the time with his 
family. The King lands on the south of the highway 



100 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

extended for some distance along the river-front, and 
King's Landing was one of the regular stopping places 
of the packets which carried merchandise from Boston to 
places along the North River. It is known by that name 
to the present day, although none of the name have 
lived there since the death of Dea. George King, in 1754. 

Deacon George left no sons. The son of his daughter 
Rhoda, known as Dea. John James, 3d, inherited his 
grandfather's house and lands. After his death, it was 
owned by his son, Maj. John James, who removed from 
Scituate to Medford, where his son Galen was building 
vessels. His daughter Almira had married Paul Curtis, 
the well-known ship-builder of East Boston, and on the 
removal of her father to Medford, the family homestead 
was sold (for the first time) to her husband's uncle. 
Col. James Curtis. He lived in the King house 
until 1834, when he removed to Maine, leaving his wife 
and family in Scituate. He made no changes in the 
house which are recorded, but he could not have been 
indifferent to the welfare of the old house, as he planted 
a double row of American elms bordering the highway 
below the house. These are still standing after more 
than ninety years of life in unfriendly soil. 

Colonel Curtis' son, Frederic, lived with his mother 
in the house until her death, in 1842, when he went to 
Medford. He sold his lands to Turner Hatch, whose son 
Marshall still lives in the house that owns to the age of 
two hundred and forty years. The roof timbers and 
sills were straight, and apparently in good condition, 
until within five years. The chimney, built of bricks 
of native clay, is still intact. 

This ancient house is unique, in one particular, among 
our seventeenth-century houses. It has been occupied 
by but two unrelated families, and has fortunately had 
no owner with sufficient worldly means to spoil it by 
changes. It still remains practically as it stood in 1680, 
and even in its present condition bears silent witness to 
the integrity and sturdy character of its builders. 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 101 

James Bowker House 

JAMES BOWKER, from "Sweeden," came to Scituate 
in 1680, and was one of the earliest settlers to take 
up lands in the outlying sections. He was the pioneer 
settler on the land around what has been known as 
Bryant's Corner, where several sons of Lieut. John 
Bryant settled on a large tract extending from Spring 
Brook to Bowker's land. Lieut. John was the eldest son 
of John Bryant, whose home on the Third Herring 
Brook was built soon after 1640. 

The house built by James Bowker in 1680 is said 
to be the one now standing a short distance west of the 
corner. It was the birthplace of Sarah Elizabeth Ellms 
Kent, the mother of Dr. L. Vernon Briggs, author of 
"Shipbuilding on North River." It is now owned by 
Dr. Briggs. 

Deacon Stephen Clap House 

WITH the exception of the lands bordering the 
river, and a few lying back of them, the south 
part of the town was unsettled until after the close 
of King Philip's War, when the danger of Indian raids 
was ended. Then pioneer settlers began to take up 
lands in the outlying districts, and "ways" were laid 
out to reach these lands, many of them over the old 
Indian trails that criss-crossed the undeveloped territory. 
One of the earliest of these ways followed the old Assi- 
nippi trail, and was the beginning of South Scituate's 
"Fore Road." In 1686, a survey of this road was made, 
and in it was noted "Samuel Clap's new house." Here was 
born, in 1703, one of the first presidents of Yale College. 
Samuel Clap built his house fronting a considerable 
tract of fertile, level land known as White Oak Plain, 
granted in 1660 to his father, Thomas Clap, who came 
to Scituate in 1640; and his son, Dea. Stephen, lived 
in it in 1690. It stood where the house of Charles A. 
Berry now stands, about a mile west of South Scituate 



102 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

Village. Nathaniel B. Clap, a direct descendant of the 
original Thomas, demolished the old house after 1842 
and built the present one on the same site. That the 
daily doings of this Scituate family might have been of 
interest to a larger circle than that of its neighbors may 
be seen by the following queerly worded extract from 
the Boston Weekly News Letter and the Massachusetts 
Gazette, August 16, 1770: "We hear from Scituate, that 
on Monday morning last, a promising youth about 14 
years of age, son to Nat'l Clap, Esq., of that Town, 
driving a Cart down a steep Hill, on the Wheels taking the 
rising Ground, oversit the Cart, and killed the lad in- 
stantly on the Spot." 

Dea. Stephen Clap's distinguished son Thomas was 
born in the old home, and was prepared for college 
under Rev. Nathaniel Eells, and Rev. James McSparren, 
an English missionary, and rector of the Narragansett 
Church. He entered Harvard College at fifteen, grad- 
uated in 1722, and afterwards entered the ministry. 
His first pastorate was at W'indham, Conn., where he 
remained from 1726 to 1739. The following year he was 
elected President of Yale College, and here he found his 
lifework. He exerted great influence in moulding the 
policy of the young college founded but thirty-nine years 
before. By reason of his executive ability and good 
business judgment, he placed the college on a firm founda- 
tion. That his theology was of the robust type we 
cannot doubt; but we may trust it was dealt out to 
others with clemency, and with the spirit of tolerance 
always found in the Pilgrims, among whose descendants 
his earlier years were passed. In a volume published by 
him in 1765 concerning the history of the college and its 
rules of life, he says: "Persons of all denominations of 
Christians are allowed the advantages of an education 
here, and no inquiry has been made at their admission or 
afterwards, about their sentiments in religion." 

After twenty-five years of arduous service, President 
Clap resigned his office in 1765. He died in January, 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 103 

1767, while on a visit to his brother in the home where he 

was born. His grave was in the old burial-ground at the 

rear of the college chapel, on the New Haven Common. 

The long epitaph on his monument ends thus: 

"Death the great Proprietor of all 
'Tis thine to tread out empires 
And to quench the stars." 

Nathaniel's son Sylvanus, and grandson Stephen, occu- 
pied the house until 1825. 

Tradition tells us that the slaves belonging to the 
various Clap families became too numerous for the family 
requirements and purse-strings, consequently they were 
given portions of land from the large Clap grant of early 
days, and allowed to shift for themselves. This was the 
beginning of the scattered negro settlement in the 
section south of White Oak Plain known to this 
day as "Wildcat." 

Captain Stephen Otis' "New House" 

IN 1697, Capt. Stephen Otis purchased a part of Will 
James' house lot, "north of Job Otis' warehouse," for 
a site for his "new house." The house built by Capt. 
Stephen was known one hundred years later as the 
Capt. James Little house. Capt. Little came, from 
Marshfield, and married Lydia Young in 1782. Widow 
Lydia Little died in 1821, and some years after, Gideon 
Young, a near relative, kept a tavern in the house for 
several years. 

The late Charles Otis Ellms is authority for the state- 
ment that the last meeting of the Conihasset Partners was 
held here in 1767, and that the house was then a tavern. 

William Paley, son of the Rev. Morrill Allen, of 
Pembroke, married Abigail Brooks Otis, a daughter of 
Ensign Otis, 3d. She inherited the house from her mother, 
a daughter of Capt. James Little, and this was the family 
home for fifty years. 

The last of the family line to own and occupy the house 
was Mrs. Amy Allen Frye, a great-granddaughter of 
Capt. James and Lydia Little. 



104 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




Captain Stephen Otis' "New House" 

This house is a remarkable specimen of early colonial 
architecture, and its ancient construction has been well 
preserved. Its hand-hewn oak beams are solid and 
massive, and the marks of the broad axe are plainly to 
be seen. The rooms are spacious, with low ceilings and 
big fireplaces, and the windows show ancient glass. 



Mordecai Lincoln House 

MORDECAI LINCOLN, the fourth son of Samuel, 
who came to Hingham in 1640, was a blacksmith 
who journeyed to Scituate in search of bog iron 
and water power for his business. He found both near 
Bound Brook, and here he settled, establishing the first 
iron works, as well as grist and saw mills. He was a 
successful man of business, and died a rich man for those 
days, as his will, made in 1727, shows. He had six children, 
and to his son Isaac he left the "house he now lives in." 
This was the oldest house in Cohasset. It had a gambrel 
roof, and was just over the line between the two towns, 
built in 1717, and has always been owned by the family. 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



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MoRDECAi Lincoln House 



It was occupied until 1919, when a fire partly destroyed 
it. To his son Jacob he left "My homestead in Scituate 
with land, mills and other valuables." This is the house 
Mordecai Lincoln built, according to family tradition, 
in 1690, on Bound Brook, near the present Lincoln 
mills. It was a well-built house and has always been 
kept in good condition, but has been remodeled, al- 
though many parts are still the same as when built. 

Mordecai Lincoln's first wife was Sarah, a daughter of 
Abraham Jones, of Hull, and it is here we have the intro- 
duction of the name of Abraham into the Lincoln family. 
In 1701-02, he married for his second wife Widow Mary 



106 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

Hobart Chapin Gannett, and their son Jacob occupied 
the house. Mordecai died in 1727, and his gravestone 
can be seen in Groveland Cemetery. 

Two sons of Mordecai Lincoln, Mordecai and Abra- 
ham, both removed to what was then the wilderness of 
Monmouth County, N. J., and afterwards to Pennsyl- 
vania, in search of fortune or adventure. Each married 
and each had seven children. In 1725, Mordecai sold out 
his business, his "Mynes, Minerals, Forges, &c.," and 
migrating again, settled in Amity, Penn., where he died. 
His will is dated February 22, 1735-36. In it he gave his 
lands in New Jersey to John, his oldest son, and his other 
property to his sons Mordecai and Abraham. As is seen, 
they still held to the family names. In 1758, John Lin- 
coln settled in Rockingham County, Va., where are 
found the names of his five sons, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 
Thomas, and John. The eldest son, Abraham, went first 
to North Carolina. 

In the original Field Book of Daniel Boone, in posses- 
sion of the Wisconsin Historical Society, under date of 
1782, is found the following: "Abraham Lincoln enters 
500 acres of land on a Treasury warrant on the south 
side of Licking Creek or River in Kentucky." Here is 
chronicled a second migration to a still wilder countrv, 
and here Abraham Lincoln erected a log cabin near "Bear 
Grass Fort," the site of the present city of Louisville. 
A year or two later, while he was working to open a farm 
in the forest, he was shot by Indians in ambush. His son 
Mordecai, who was working in a field near by, ran to the 
house for a rifle, and returned just as an Indian had 
seized his little brother Thomas and was running with 
him toward the forest. He fired the rifle, the Indian fell 
dead, and little Thomas escaped, to become the father of 
the great President. 

The family characteristics of the Lincolns of Scituate 
have been, to a marked degree, native wit, shrewdness, 
concise speech, and freedom of opinion, qualities which 
Abraham Lincoln shared with his ancestors in a 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 107 

remarkable degree. They are also noted for their fondness 
tor old Bible names, which have stuck to successive 
generations like "tar to the rigging," as the saying goes. 
The Mordecai Lincoln house did not pass out of the 
Lincoln family until early in the nineteenth century. It 
was then bought by Horace Doane, who there brought up 
a large family. One of his grandsons, who had inherited 
the homestead, sold the place in 1915 for a summer 
residence. As a site it is one of the most attractive in our 
town, commanding a wide view of the marshes, with the 
winding river and high shores of Cohasset in the distance. 
The rooms are spacious, with large fireplaces and high 
ceilings, while the windows open on an extensive view. 

Deacon Hatherly Foster House 

THE Hatherly Foster house, on the main road from 
Greenbush to South Scituate, about forty rods 
east of the LInion Bridge road, is remembered by many 
as having been demolished in 1898. It stood a few 
rods east of the old burying-ground, on the north 
side of the way, opposite the old rocky orchard and the 
well by the wayside, on a little knoll back from the road. 
"Deacon Hatherly" built his house in 1697, on the 
North River lot of eighty acres, allotted in 1636, to his 
grandfather, Edward, who was a nephew of Timothy 
Hatherly. When Edward Foster married Lettice Han- 
ford, no less a person than Miles Standish, magistrate 
from Plymouth, journeyed thence to Scituate to perform 
the ceremony, which took place "April 8, ye 4th day 
of weeke, 1635." 

On the death of "Deacon Hatherly," in 1751, the 
house became the property of his son, who was known 
as "Lieutenant Elisha," and who succeeded his father as 
deacon of the Second Church. On his death the home- 
stead passed to his eldest son, John, who fought in the 
French and Indian War, and was one of the soldiers at 
Crown Point in 1759. He afterwards became known 



108 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




Deacon Hatherly Foster House 



throughout a wide neighborhood as "Landlord Foster," 
as the family home, before his father's death, had become 
a tavern; so he returned from the wars to engage in a 
more peaceful occupation. The east side of the second 
story of the old house was one large room used for meet- 
ings and for social purposes generally. Here many of the 
town meetings were held, especially during the cold 
days, when the unheated churches were too uncomfort- 
able as meeting places. It should be remembered that 
the location of this well-known tavern was not far from 
the center of the then undivided town of Scituate, and 
there are tales of many gatherings at "Landlord Foster's" 
in Revolutionary days. 

John Foster's son Timothy succeeded to his father's 
homestead and married Hannah Clap, of Hanson. The 
memory of their daughter Mary has been made a living 
one through the tribute to her character and worth 
written by her devoted husband, the Rev. William 
Phillips Tilden, in his autobiography. There is no such 
realistic picture of the old town and its people in the 
early half of the nineteenth century as can be found in 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 109 

these reminiscences written for his children and grand- 
children. 

In those early days, mackerel fishing was a great 
source of income to all the coast towns, and all the 
young men and boys had their share in it. But William 
Tilden's mackerel served an added purpose, unique in 
the annals of courtship. We have the story in his own 
words: 

"We generally managed to have a few to take home when we 
arrived. Sometimes when we got into the harbor at night, and I 
walked home with a happy heart under the stars, I would hang a 
nice bloater on the front door handle of a certain house, where a 
certain sweet girl lived, to let her know as she swept off the doorstep 
in the morning that somebody got home from fishing in the night. 
Who said she expected me the next evening? I didn't. It was your 
guess." 

And so Mary Foster received her messages as she stood 
in the early morning in the doorway of the old "Deacon 
Hatherly" house; and the term of her wedded life was 
forty years. 

We are indebted to her grandson, Joseph Tilden 
Green, for the accompanying photograph, taken some 
years before the old home of his grandmother was 
demolished. 

After 1854, the house passed through several hands, 
and began its downward career. It was finally purchased 
by James Green, together with its lands, extending 
to the river on the south. He redeemed it at the last by 
completely destroying all vestiges of it, and nothing 
now remains to tell its story but the knoll on which it 
stood for two hundred years. 

The Bryant-Cushing House 

ON the "Fore Road" leading to South Scituate, as 
one approaches the Second Herring Brook and 
Copper Corner, stands the old Bryant-Cushing house 
among the trees, with its large clay chimney still 
intact. It stands back from the roadway, and can be 
easily identified by the five "bulls' eyes" over the front 
entrance. 



110 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

It was built by Dea. Thomas Bryant in 1698. 
Thomas was a son of John Bryant, who settled on the 
Second Herring Brook about 1643. The remains of an 
old orchard east of the Merritt mill still mark the site of 
his home. He was born in 1675, the year before the 
Indian raid on Scituate. It is probable that Bryant's 
family took refuge in the Block House on the river not 
far away, although the home of the family was evidently 
well defended by the father and several sons, as there is 
no record of its having been burned in the raid. 

Dea. Thomas Bryant was one of the influential men 
of Scituate. His sister Ruth, two years older than him- 
self, married the Quaker, William Wanton. Their 
wooing, so strongly opposeci by both families, is told 
very quaintly by Deane, as follows: 

"To this match, there had been several objections; — the Quakers 
disapproved of his marrying out of the Society, and the Congrega- 
tionalists of his marrying into theirs, and moreover, the woman was 
very young; however, the sanguine temper of Wanton was not to be 
foiled, and he is said to have addressed the young woman in the 
presence of her family in the following words: 'Ruth, let us break 
away from this unreasonable bondage. I will give up my religion, 
and thou shalt give up thine, and we will go to the church of England, 
and go to the D — 1 together.' They fulfilled this resolution, so far 
as going to church and marrying and adhering to the church of «. 

England during life." ■. Sc^«-'*v«>*' C^ijn__ ■ i» . d^^-il^O* 

Thomas Bryant's wife was M aryEweU, who died in 
1724. Her slate gravestone, with its curious wording, 
is still standing in the parish burying-ground of the 
South Scituate church, in a good state of preservation. 
It reads: "Here lyes ye body of Mrs. Mary Briant, 
wife to Mr. Thos. Briant, who dyed and in her arms 
doth lye the corps of two lovely babes born of har." 

The Rev. Lemuel Bryant was their son, born in 
Scituate, 1721-22. He prepared for college under Mr. 
Eells, his pastor, and graduated from Harvard in 1739. 
He was settled over the Quincy church, and became 
somewhat noted for his liberalism. Deane says that he 
"had gone somewhat before the age in liberal specula- 
tions," and tells the story of his having preached for his 
pastor, Mr. Eells, on a certain Sunday, in Scituate. His 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



111 




The Bryant-Cushing House 

text was, "All our righteousnesses are filthy rags," and he 
explained the text as showing that the formalities of a 
corrupt generation of the Jews were described, and not 
the moral virtues of true worshipers. This lead Mr. 
Eells to remark: "Alas! Sir, you have undone today 
all that I have been doing for forty years;" and Bryant, 
with his accustomed wit and courtesy, replied: "Sir, you 
do me too much honor in saying, that I could undo in 
one sermon, the labors of your long and useful life." 
The Rev. Mr. Bryant's health failing while a young 
man, he returned for a few years to his father's house, 
in Scituate, and there died at the age of thirty-two years. 
He is buried in the plot in the South Scituate cemetery 
near that of the Rev. Mr. Eells. 

Hawke Gushing, son of Dea. Joseph Gushing, Jr., 
born at Hoop Pole Hill, then purchased the house. 
The last of the Gushing name to occupy the house were 
his unmarried granddaughters, Ruth and Glarissa, with 
their brother Josiah, and after the death of Miss Glarissa, 
in 1885, the house was sold to Dr. Hay ward W. Gushing, 
x^fter some years it was re-sold by him to Edward R. 
Bacon, ot Ghicago, its present owner. 




The Ambrose Cole House 



Eighteenth Century Houses 
The Ambrose Cole House 

A MBROSE COLE, the first of the name in Scituate, 
-^ ^ is supposed to have been the builder of this house 
in 1700. His son was David, who married, in 1732, 
Sarah Balch. The Balch house was the next west, as 
the records say, "the road that goeth by Balch's," now 
the gambrel roof house of the late Nancy Jackson, beside 
the Common at Scituate Centre. 

At his death his son William inherited the house, 
whose son Ambrose became owner in his turn. His wife 
was Mary Tufts, of Charlestown, where he was in business 
and made his home. He accumulated a competency and 
gave his nine children an education far above the average 
of that time. After his death his family came to Scituate 
to occupy the homestead and carry on the farm, which 
was of great extent. They must have been lovers of 

(112) 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 113 

nature, for the grounds were planted with shrubs and 
old-fashioned flowers in the garden at the back, where 
the box-trees and daffodils still bravely rear their heads, 
although the dear old house was burned in 1919. 

Of these children, Mary Ann was a great factor in the 
life of Scituate, for it was she who first introduced art 
into town. She was a tall, distinguished-looking woman, 
but of eccentric ways. She gave lessons in drawing and 
painting, her price being invariably $2.00 for twelve 
lessons of three hours each, and always went on foot to 
her classes no matter whether the classes were near at 
hand or in a neighboring town. Her embroidery was a 
thing of beauty, but as far as her own clothes were 
concerned her ideas did not always follow the dictates 
of fashion, and were poorly put together, as she cared 
nothing for plain sewing. Her writing was of such 
perfection that when the town of Scituate was divided, 
it became necessary for the part called South Scituate 
to have a copy of the town records, and Miss Mary Ann 
Cole was selected to do the copying. These books may 
be seen at the ofiice of the town clerk of Norwell, and 
they certainly command admiration for their beauty, 
legibility, and freedom from errors. 

One of her favorite subjects was, "The Ruins of 
Carthage," with Marius in the foreground, and copies of 
this still hang in many old-fashioned parlors. 

The last occupant of the home was Miss Jane Cole, 
who lived and died here. 

In itself, the house differed from others of the same 
period in that one of the chimneys was placed so that 
the fireplaces were corner-wise in the rooms. In the best 
parlor was a beautiful "beaufat" that came from an old 
French frigate, made of wood, carved, and painted 
white, and lined with scarlet woolen, a very effective 
background for china. Tradition says the house was at 
one time a tavern, but of this we are not positive. 

Note: The drawing of the old Methodist Church in this volume 
was made by Miss Mary Ann Cole. 



14 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




The Tilden House 



The Tilden House 

THE old Tilden house, which was built in 1711 by 
Joseph Tilden, stood until it was burned, halt a 
century ago, on Tilden Road, not far north of the Beaver 
Dam road, and the lilac bushes that once stood guard 
by the old front door still bravely keep their vigil, 
though only the cellar remains. 

Joseph Tilden married Sarah White in 1710, and built 
his house the next year, placing the date on the chimney. 
They had four children. One daughter, Hannah, married, 
in 1785, Capt. Hezekiah Ripley, of Rocky Nook, King- 
ston; he was an officer in the Revolutionary Army and 
was often the guest of General Washington. 

On the next lot was another old house, also built and 
owned by the Tildens, and one of its occupants was Miss 
Patience Tilden. During the strenuous times of the 
War of the Rebellion, Aunt Patience, who was a famous 
knitter, made with her own hands many pairs of woolen 
stockings for the soldiers. She was a great admirer of 
President Lincoln, and for him she knit a particularly 
fine pair of white woolen socks as a gift, and she had the 
rare pleasure of a personal acknowledgment from him. 



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116 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



written by his own hand. This she had framed, and kept 
it in her home as her choicest treasure. (It is now in 
the possession of Mrs. Annis Wade, who received it from 
her cousin, Miss Sally Tilden, of Egypt.) 

Another Tilden of Scituate ancestry was Samuel Jones 
Tilden, said to have been elected president of the United 
States by the people. He was Governor of New York, a 
lawyer, a millionaire, a political leader, and in 1877 he 
ran as the Democratic candidate for President against 
Rutherford B. Hayes, whose election was contested. 
An electoral commission, which was organized by Con- 
gress, decided in favor of Hayes. The New York Public 
Library is built by money left by Mr. Tilden for a 
foundation, together with that of Astor and Lenox. 

Although the older Tilden houses are no longer 
standing, the farm which is a part of the original grant 
to Elder Nathaniel Tilden, one of the "Men of Kent," is 
still owned and occupied by his descendants of the 
Tilden name. 




Two SlACKS 

Two Stacks 

CAPTAIN DAVID LITTLE built his mansion, 
called "Two Stacks," from its two large chimneys, 
in 1700, the date being found in his old desk, now the 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 117 

property of F. A. Turner, of Hingham. He left the home 
to his son, Barnabas Little, a wealthy and influential man, 
who held many town offices and loaned large sums of 
money to help carry on the Revolutionary War. With 
him lived his sister, Mercy Little, who married Joseph 
Otis, and as he never married, at his death he left the 
estate to his nephew, John Otis. 

Note: The following letter was found in the house some years ago. 
It is of great interest, showing how the name Barnabas was kept in 
the family: 

(In a scrawl on the back) 
Address: 

Mrs. Marcy Otis, Scituate, 

To the Beautiful Mrs. Marcv Otis, 

Plymouth, august 26, 1803. 

Honoured Mother, 

I am under the disagreeabel necessity to inform you that my dear 
and only son Barney was prest on Board of a British Frigate called 
LTmmotality the 29th of last May in the English Channel for the 
want of a protection — the Brig he was in from Malaga to St. 
Petersburg in Russia. 

The above disagreeable news I received By Last Tuesday's mail 
By a letter from Captin of the Brigg to Mr. Hedge his owner. 

Dear Mother, this is harder than Death to his parents for the 
Almighty has a right to take his creation out of the World when he 
pleases. But to have our dear child taken from us By an arbitary 
stretch of power of man it is attended with such aggravations too 
hard for human mortals to Bair. 

I must leave the disagreeable subject you Better immagin my 
feelings that I can Discribe them, although you never felt them or 
what I now feel, the principal men in Plymouth are all interested 
in this Disagreeable event everything is done towards obtaining his 
release, their are such Certificates with pressing letters Gone on 
to London to the American Ambassador that will obtain his release 
when he can be found. Likewise Certificates to the Secerity of 
State that are sufficient to prove him to be an American & the 
Secerity it is his duty as an officer to demand him from that power 
that detains him. 1 can write no more But must Conclude By 
subscribing myself your affectionate Son Barnabas Otis. 
N. B. as there ware two young men belonging to Scituate you 
may inform their parrents that they were not prest. 
N. B. the letter Mr. Hedge received was dated at Copenhagen. 

John was twice married and had a large family of 
children. At his death the south side part of the house 
was given to Milton Litchfield, who had married two 
daughters of John Otis, and it was he who added the 
long south ell in which they lived. 



118 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

The north part belonged, at this time, to John and 
Silas Otis, bachelors. They left their half to Mrs. 
Abigail Bailey as a reward for her duties as their house- 
keeper, and she in her turn willed it to her nephew 
Thomas Otis Bailey. He sold his part to Liba Litchfield 
and his wife Winnet, daughter of Milton, they then 
becoming owners of the whole estate. 

On the death of Liba Litchfield, his widow sold the 
property to Edgar A. P. Newcomb, an architect and 
composer, who, though now making his home in Honolulu, 
signs himself, "Still Master of the Two Stacks." 

Note: It is a well-established fact that slaves were owned by the 
Otis family, as well as by many other well-to-do families of Scituate, 
and this letter, addressed to Mr. John Otis, Scituate Lower Parish, 
was found at Two Stacks: 

Boston, Aug't 1823. 
Mr. John Otis, — Sir: 

There is an old Black Woman by name of Jenny that was born 
in your house & was one of Uncle Barney Little's serventes she is 
now old & cannot get any work in this place & she wants to go into 
your famdy to live otherwise she must come to Scituate & the town 
to support her, she is anxious to know if you will take her in your 
family you will write to George Pillsbury & let them know your 
determination. I write this by the request of Aunt Pillsbury. 

Your Obt. St 

Charles Otis. 

This receipt was likewise found in the house: 

Scituate, Aprile 4, 1749. 

Then received of Amasa Bailey seventy pound old tener it being 
in full for a negro girl named Sussanah aged one )'ear & ten months 
I say received by me. Joshua Otis. 

The Doctor Isaac Otis House 

THIS house was built in 1723 by Dr. Isaac Otis, the 
first regularly bred physician to settle in Scituate, 
and a descendant of John Otis, or Oates, who settled at 
Scituate in 1653. It stands close by the "public way 
from Greenbush leading to the 'Up-River' settlement," 
now called Norwell. 

The interior differs from most dwellings of the same 
period in that it was built by a doctor. The front room 
to the east is small, being used as an office, and has a 
medicine chest built into the chimney over the fireplace. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



119 



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The Dr. Isaac Otis House 



Between this room and the back parlor is a dark-closet 
built into the chimney, which tradition says was the 
sleeping-place of the doctor's negro slave, in order that 
he might be on hand to saddle the horse and arrange the 
saddle-bags when his master started out to a patient. 

The real purpose of this chimney closet found in 
many houses of this period was as a cool closet in summer 
and a warm one in winter. They were designated "glory- 
holes." Many things being stored in them as a matter 
of convenience, a glory-hole has come to mean a place 
for an accumulation of rubbish of all kinds. 

In his will Doctor Isaac left the homestead to his son, 
Dr. James Otis, who lived here until his death, in 1807, 
when the property descended to his daughter Lucy, who 
married Thomas Barker Briggs, and whose son, Charles 
Briggs, in his turn became owner of the house. He was 
the last of the familv to live here. After his death his 



120 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



family removed to Essex County. Since then it has 
passed through several hands, but is now the home of 
Miss Antoinette Pray, who has done much to restore 
it to its former charm. 

At the back is a small one-story ell which at one time 
was two stories high. It is thought to have been a part 
of the house of Joseph Nash, who was the first to have a 
house on this site, the land being part of the original 
grant to Anthony Annable in 1636. 




The Jacobs Homestead 

The Jacobs Homestead 

ON the shores of Jacobs Pond, Assinippi, stands a 
large, old house built in 1726 by Joshua Jacobs. 
He and his brother, Dr. Joseph Jacobs, were also the 
builders and proprietors of the old Jacobs Mill on the 
Third Herring Brook, standing until July 4, 1920, when 
it was burned. Close by the mill was the brave old 
oak that was there when the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, 
(Vouched for by Barry's "History of Hanover.") 

"Oft in the moonlight by whose side 
The dusky Indian wooed his bride." 

Joshua Jacobs was an extensive landowner and a man 

of industry and business ability; he married Mary James, 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



121 



of Scituate. Their three sons served in the Revokitionary 
War with distinguished abiHty, Col. John Jacobs, Capt. 
Joshua Jacobs, Corp. James Jacobs. 

These three brothers married three sisters — Hannah, 
EHzabeth, and Deborah Richmond, of Little Compton, 
R. I. — of a most distinguished family. 

James Jacobs, son of Ichabod Richmond Jacobs, 
married his cousin, Clarissa Richmond, of whom history 
says, "Clarissa was an excellent woman and a devoted 
mother." Their portraits hang in the old house, and it is 
from this worthy couple that the present owner of the 
homestead. Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, is descended. 




Dr. Ephraim Otis House 



Dr. Ephraim Otis House 

IN a section of the town known for generations as 
"Wildcat," a little southwest of White Oak Plain, 
stands an old house believed to be the last Quaker home 
now standing in the town. It was built in 1732 by 
Dr. Ephraim Otis, son of Job, who married Rachel 
Hersey, of Hingham. She was a sister of Dr. Ezekiel 
Hersey, whose widow married a Derby, of Salem, and 
founded Derby Academy, in Hingham, with money 
received, it is said, from her first husband, Dr. Hersey. 



122 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

Their son, Dr. Ephraim Otis, graduated from Harvard 
College in 1756. In 1757, he was commissioned as 
surgeon's mate, and was at Fort William Henry in 1758. 
Dr. Otis was at Yale College in 1759, and in 1774 was one 
of the town committee to assist in preparations for war. 
He first settled as a physician at Taunton, later removing 
to Scituate, and married Sarah Harris, of Providence. 
Through her influence he became a convert to the Quaker 
faith. 

On his death, in Scituate, the homestead was inherited 
by his son Daniel, who was a compounder of drugs and 
medicines at his home. In addition to his business as a 
druggist, he managed his 200-acre farm most successfully, 
and added largely to his inheritance. His wife, Mary 
Greene, was a Quakeress of charming personality, greatly 
beloved by family, acquaintances, and those who 
served her. At her death, an old colored servant begged 
to be buried at her feet when he died. The family 
burial lot is on the home farm, and at the foot of her 
grave can be found that of the faithful servant. 

Ephraim Otis, oldest son of Daniel, inherited the 
homestead, and on his death it went into the possession 
of his nephew, Joseph Clapp Otis, according to provisions 
in his grandfather Daniel's will. 

Jesse Dunbar House* 

OVERLOOKING the harbor at the head of "Will 
James' Dock," and just north of Stephen Otis' "new 
house," stands a house frequently referred to in old deeds 
and wills as the "mansion house," and occupied for many 
years by Jesse Dunbar, Esq., who married Sally Wither- 
ell in 1785. For years the old stone wharf nearly opposite 
was known as Dunbar's wharf. 

Having been enterprising in navigation and fisheries, 
he acquired much worldly goods, the house for many 

*This house can be seen on the extreme right of picture on 
page 104. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



123 



years showing evidence ot this. Wide paneling of doors, 
white marble mantel in the large reception room on 
the second floor, — which also boasted seven windows, — 
and the white and blue tile around one of the fireplaces, 
together with hangings and upholstering of rich, red 
brocade, certified to over-seas connection. 

Located in the room at the left of the front door 
still remains the "strong box," consisting of a well-made 
wooden box suspended beneath the floor, and reached by 
removing a board across the corner. 

In later years the house became known as the Dr. 
Francis Thomas house, he having married Sarah Dunbar, 
and occupied it till his death. The first transfer out of 
the family came when it was sold to Edward H. Bonney. 
The wonderful elm trees just in front have long been 
objects of admiration. 



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The Old Parsonage 

THE house known as the "Old Parsonage," of the 
Second Parish, stands on Main Street (Norwell) 
just east of Copper Corner. It was built in 1728 to 



124 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



replace an older house which stood on the same site, like- 
wise owned by the parish, and purchased by them in 
1684 as a parsonage for Rev. Mr. Mighill. The Rev. 
Nathaniel Eells lived in the older house from 1704 to 
1715, when he purchased the Henchman house. 

Israel Sylvester rented the parsonage and occupied it 
for some years, Mr. Eells receiving the rental as part of 
his salary. Dr. Barnes was the next occupant, living here 
from 1754 to 1770. In 1784 Israel Turner purchased the 
house. It remained in his family for 135 years. The last 
of his family to occupy the home were his granddaughters, 
Miss Caroline Turner and her sister, Mrs. Thomas 
Gaffield, after whose death it was sold, in 1919, to Mr. 
James Stinson. 



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The HoMEsiEAD 



The Gushing Homesteads 

AT the foot of Hoop Pole Hill, about a half-mile west 
-^ ^ of South Scituate Village, is Henchman's Corner, so 
called from Joseph Henchman, who settled there in 1680. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 125 

He built a large house a few rods east of the corner, on the 
north side of the "Fore Road." In 1703, the way leading 
from this road to Bryant's Corner was laid out, creating 
the corner named for Henchman. 

The first Gushing to settle in this part of the town was 
Joseph, the youngest son of John, of Belle House Neck, 
who purchased in 1707 the west part of the Henchman 
property, and other lands tov.T.rds the north. Within 
sight of the corner there have been three Gushing home- 
steads, built at different periods, but closely associated 
with memories of this branch of the family. 

Near the road, in front of the home of Dr. Hayward W. 
Gushing, stood the house built by Joseph about 1709, and 
occupied by two generations. The corner-stone is still in 
place, and the seventh generation is now living on the 
land of the first house, near the original site. Almost on 
the same site stood the second house, in which lived 
"the four Georges" (George Sr., George Jr., George 
King, and his son George), burned shortly before 1897. 
Joseph Gushing had one child, but his son, Joseph Jr., 
had a family of fifteen children. The latter was for many 
years the Latin School master of Scituate, and prepared 
his own sons and many others for college. Both were 
deacons of the Second Ghurch, and men greatly re- 
spected. The slate gravestones of three Josephs, grand- 
father, father, and son, can still be seen on the southern 
slope of the South Scituate burying-ground. They died 
within seven years, 1760 to 1767. 

Judge Nathan Gushing was a son ot Deacon Joseph 
and Lydia King. He purchased land for his home in 
part from the Proutys, and from John Jordan, who, 
Deane says, "in 1775 occupied the place where Judge 
Nathan Gushing's mansion stands." The site of his 
homestead can still be seen on the east ^ope of Hoop 
Pole Hill, near the Fore Road, marked by the clumps 
of lilac bushes, the ash tree, and the old well. Lilies of 
the valley and "daffies" still bloom each spring to keep 
alive the story of the Jucige's garden. 



126 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

It seems the irony of fate that the homestead of this 
distinguished man should be remembered only as the 
"Judge Wood place." Judge Wilkes Wood, of Middle- 
borough, married the widow of Judge Nathan's only son, 
Christopher. After the Woods removed to Middle- 
borough, the house was occupied for a time by Dr. 
Milton Fuller, then unoccupied for some years, and 
finally burned, about the middle of the last century. 

Alice Gushing, his sister, married Nathaniel Gushing, 
of Hingham, in 1774. He was her second cousin, also 
descended from John Gushing, of Belle House Neck. 
Nathaniel Gushing bought land, in 1773, from the heirs 
of Philip Turner, whose broad acres extended from 
Henchman's on the west to Josiah Torrey's on the east, 
thus taking in the entire north side of South Scituate's 
Fore Road, from the "Eells field," east of the corner 
(where until the last two years stood the old "Eells pear 
tree"), to the stone wall between Seth Foster's and the 
Nash property. A homestead was probably included in 
the purchase, and this remained for thirty-six years the 
dwelling place of the family. At each half-century suc- 
ceeding, changes were macie in the house, and parts 
remioved, until at the present time but little, if any, of 
the eighteenth-century house remains but the foundation 
stones. 

An interesting story has been handed down in the 
family as related by a daughter of "Grandmother 
Alice." Long before her marriage to Nathaniel, he had 
given her a "friendship ring," which she called her 
"posy ring," from the flower engraved on its square top 
surface. One autumn day she was swinging on a gate 
on the home farm, and when reproved for it by an older 
brother, threw at him the core of the apple she was 
eating, and with it went her posy ring. She searched far 
and wide, but the precious ring could not be found. 
Years passed, and Alice was a grandmother. The old 
orchard was being ploughed one spring-like day, when 
the plough turned up a glittering object, quickly spied 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 127 

by one of her grandsons. It proved to he a ring — hut 

father or mother had never seen one Hke it. Then 

someone said, "Show it to grandmother." No sooner 

said than done. "Why, that's my posy ring," said she, 

"come back to me after these fifty years." Then she 

told them its story. She lived her ninety-six years of 

life, and died near the land where she was born, a less 

remarkable instance at that time than it would now be, 

in these days of frequent removals. 

The picture shown represents the house as it stood 

in 1848, with its "primeval" oak, remembered to have 

stood there in 1709. About 1793, after the death of 

Nathaniel Gushing, Sr., the house was deeded to his 

son Nathaniel, Jr., who, by his will, left it to his sons, 

Hayward Peirce and Nathan. The latter, who died in 

1903, in his ninetieth year, bequeathed it to his nieces 

and nephews, children of his brother Hayward. In the 

clause of his will relating to the land, he wrote: 

"I have great affection for the homestead of my father, and desire 
it shall remain as long as may be in the possession of the Gushing 
family, that the present members of the family and their descendants, 
may have the benefit and pleasure of a residence which has brought 
so much health and happiness to me." 

The Dr. Gushing Otis House 

JONATHAN and Joseph Turner, sons of John, Sr., 
were the first settlers on this land, which was a part 
of the eighty acres granted to Humphrey Turner in 
1636. They built a house, and each lived in one half. 
In 1806, Dr. Gushing Otis, a grandson of Dr. Isaac, 
and whose wife was a daughter of Judge Nathan Gushing, 
purchased the house now standing from Gapt. William 
Brooks, who had purchased it a few months before from 
Thatcher Tilden. Tilden's first wife was a daughter of 
John Turner, but there is some doubt whether the 
present structure was the home of Jonathan and Joseph. 
Dr. Otis enlarged it by adding ten feet to the west side, 
making a small room at the rear for his medical supplies, 
and widening the parlor. The finish of the front rooms, 



128 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




The Dr. Gushing Otis House 



the wainscoting, cornice mouldings, and mantels were 
added at this time. A curious thing, which would 
perhaps determine the age of the different parts of the 
house, is that the finish, the familiar dog-tooth moulding, 
of the east side differs from that of the west. 

His daughter, Miss Abigail T. Otis, was the next 
owner. She had a very comfortable property, which had 
come to her from the Cushings, Otises, and Briggs; at 
her death, having no nearer relatives in any of these 
families than second cousins, she apportioned her 
property among her "next of kin," after making bequests 
to the town of South Scituate, the Second Parish, and the 
James Library. The house and lands were given in 
equal parts to her fourteen cousins, grandchildren of 
James Otis, of Lyme, N. H., whose portrait, with that of 
his wife, hangs in the mansion now. Harriet Otis, one 
of these heirs, and her husband, James H. Barnard, of 
Savannah, Ga., bought out the other heirs, and from 
1888 to 1903 the home was rented to various people, 
until James H. Barnard, Jr., came to live in the ancestral 
home in South Scituate. Recent renovations made bv 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



129 



Mr. Barnard uncovered ancient paneling over the 

mantel in the east room, concealed under laths and 

plaster, and showed that the once large fireplace had 

been twice reduced in size, building each inside the other. 

Note: An oil portrait of Rev. Nehemiah Thomas, minister of 
the First Church, who had married Hannah Otis, sister of Cushing 
M. D., was in the house. It has been presented to the C. J. C. 
Chapter D. A. R. for preservation. 




Dr. Barnes Parsonage 



Dr. Barnes Parsonage 

DR. DAVID BARNES, pastor of the Second 
Church, lived in the "Old Parsonage," near Copper 
Corner, from 1754 to 1770, when he purchased a farm of 
the guardian of "Little John Turner," west of Herring 
Brook Hill, and began his new home that summer. 

At this same time the Second Society was building 
its fourth meeting-house, and meanwhile the services 
were held in the unfinished home of the pastor. 



130 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

Dr. Barnes died in 1811, and his homestead and lands 
were purchased by John Nash, who retained most of 
the farm land, but sold the house and grounds bordering 
on the highway, to Capt. Isaac Whittemore, who soon 
died at sea, and was buried on the Island of St. Helena. 

His widow later married Ebenezer Thayer Fogg, of 
Braintree. They had a large family, and on the death 
of Mrs. Betsey Fogg the estate was left to her children 
in common, for their use, whenever they so desired. A 
family home, so to speak. 

Various members of the family lived here from time 
to time, until Horace T. Fogg, a grandson, purchased the 
interests of the other heirs, and on his marriage took up 
his residence in the homestead. The house later was 
badly damaged by lightning, after which Mr. Fogg made 
extensive alterations. He has since repurchased the 
lands once belonging to Dr. Barnes and sold to John 
Nash. 

The house next west, known for many years as the 
Hartt house, once the home of Samuel Hartt, a naval 
constructor, and son of Edmund Hartt, builder of the 
Constitution, was the parsonage of Rev. Samuel 
Deane, author of Deane's "History of Scituate." The 
house next east, built by Dr. Joseph L. Whittemore, 
was the South Parish Parsonage of the Reverends 
Stetson and Fuller, while the house opposite, built 
about 1765, by Pickles Cvishing, Sr., is the present 
parsonage. So it may easily be seen why this portion 
of South Scituate's Main Street from the "Common" to 
Henchman's Corner, near which stood the Eell's parson- 
age, has been called "Parsonage Row." 

The Delano Mansion 

A MANSION, according to the old-time meaning of 
■^ ^ the word, was a house having more than one stair- 
case, and this beautiful old home may well command 
this title, for in it are several flights of stairs. It was 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



131 




The Delano Mansion 



built in 1803, by William Delano, a shipbuilder, face- 
tiously called "Lord North." 

The name Delano is a French one, for the ancient 
town of Lannoye, a few miles from Lille, where the 
family lived, hence "de Lannoy." The family was of 
such importance in France, in 1310, that when a 
daughter, Mahienne de Lannoye, was married, her chil- 
dren took her name instead of their father's. One of 
her descendants, Badouin de Lannoye, was one of those 
who founded the "Order of the Golden Fleece," in 1429. 
Gilbert de Lannoye, of the fourth generation from 
Badouin, became a Huguenot and was disinherited by 
his father. 

His son Jean lived in Leyden, where he married 
Marie le Mahiew. After his death she married, for a 
second husband, Jan Pesyn. This worthy couple gave 



132 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




Hallway of Delano Mansion 



great aid to the Plymouth Pilgrims during their stay in 

Leyden. (Oil portraits of them may be seen in Leyden.) 

Marie's son Philip, by her first husband, born in 

Leyden, in 1602, was one of the passengers o\ the 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 133 

Speedwell when she had to put back to Plymouth as 
unseaworthy. He came to Plymouth, however, the next 
year in the Fortune^ the next vessel to arrive. On the 
passenger list his name is given as Philip tie la Noye, 
aged nineteen. Three generations later his descendants 
came to Scituate. 

William Delano, the builder of the house, had three 
sons and four daughters. William Hart Delano, the 
eldest, lived for a time in the north side of the new 
house, but later removed to Boston, his mother, Sarah 
Hart, remaining here to bring up the family. 

Their circumstances at this time must have been 
rather straitened, for Mrs. Delano continued the 
store run by her husband, attached to the house, where 
she dispensed groceries, as well as china, silks, crepes, 
and other choice goods brought her by her brother, 
Capt. John Hart, who was in the "China trade." 

Their means became ample in later years, as the Harts 
were wealthy, and Mrs. Delano inherited a comfortable 
fortune from her family. 

The sons all followed the trade of their father and 
grandfather, shipbuilding, anci became distinguished 
in their line of work, but the preserving of the mansion 
on "Delano Hill" was left to the four daughters, all of 
whom died unmarried. 

After their death, a widely remembered auction was 
held here, and most of the prized possessions of the 
family scattered far anci wide, although some of the 
choicest furniture and paintings were given to Harvard 
University. Anyone who was lucky enough to have 
been on hand then, secured treasures of which they are 
all justly proud. 

Mr. Edward F. Delano, a grandson of the first William, 
was the next owner, and it was he who took down the 
old store on the south side, as it was no longer safe. 

In 1916, he sold the homestead to Mr. John H. Gutter- 
son, the present owner and occupant. 



134 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




Thk Samuel Hatch Holsk 



The Samuel Hatch House 

THE Samuel Hatch house, which stands close by the 
old Stockbridge Mill, on the Country Way in 
Greenbush, was built in 1804 by Samuel Hatch, whose 
mother was Mary Jacob, on the site of the original house 
built by her grandfather, Dea. David Jacob, the first 
schoolmaster in town. "In 1710 the town agreed with 
Dea. David Jacob to keep a reading and writing and 
grammar school for the boys of the town for one year 
for the sum of 20 lbs., and agreed with the same to build 
a schoolhouse for 20 lbs." This school was located near 
the mill. 

Deacon David was a grandson of George Russell, who 
purchased this property of Isaac Stedman in 1646. 
Jacob purchased it from his grandfather's estate in 1688. 

Samuel Hatch married Eunice Jacob, and they 
brought up a large family in this home of goodly 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 135 

proportions. The ell was a part of the earlier house, and 
contained an old fireplace and a big copper kettle for 
cooking potatoes tor the hogs, many of which were kept; 
adjoining were sheds for the teams and carriages of 
chance callers, with wide-arched doors, one part for the 
two-wheeled chaise and saddles, another part for the 
winter's wood, and the last always wide open for the 
incomers; the fovmdations are still to be seen. 

Mr. Hatch's hospitality was like that of old Virginia: 
fires always burning brightly on all the hearths and the 
table bountifully set for all who might come. After his 
death and that of his wife, the old house fell into a gray 
quiet, where once life and hospitality had gladdened so 
many; and after the death of his last unmarried daughter, 
the homestead was sold. It is now owned by Mr. Albert 
Garceau. 




The Cudworth House 

The Cudworth House 

THE old Cudworth house, so called, now the home 
of the Scituate Historical Society, was built by 
Zephaniah Cudworth, born 1752, and who in 1 773 married 
Elizabeth Studley. 



136 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 

Since its very building, religion seems to be closely 
associated with this home, for it was here in the attic, 
in a large, unfinishedchamber, with a good-sized fireplace, 
that beginning in 1821 the newly formed Baptist Society 
held their meetings for four years; this same room later 
being used by the Unitarians after the burning of their 
church. 

At the back stands a shed, lined with wooden benches, 
where on Sundays, during the interval between the 
morning and afternoon services, the people ot the First 
Parish came to eat their lunches anci spend a social hour. 

James Cudworth, son of Zephaniah, was the last of his 
name to own the house. He sold it to Israel Thorndike, 
of Camden, Me., to whose descendants it belonged 
until purchased by the town, that needed the land on 
which to build the present High School. The house 
was then given to the Historical Society as a home. It 
has now been restored and furnished as it was when first 
built, and is open to the public. 

The Wade-Bryant House 

THE Wade-Bryant house was built about 1750, by 
Simeon Wacie, on a cellar of a house formerly owned 
by Abraham Booth, whose lands reached up over the 
hill, known then and now as Booth Hill. 

After the death of Simeon, the house became the 
property of his son Joseph and his wife, Polly Stockbridge, 
who so long outlived her husband and fourteen children 
as to be known by every one as "Aunt Polly Wade." 

The "beaufat" in a corner of the "fore-room" — torn 
out at one time and thrown aside — was of great antiquity, 
as is shown by the hinges of its glass doors. After 
passing through many hands it was sold for a dollar, 
and now stands in the "fore-room" of the home of 
Frank Owen White, in Egypt. 

"Aunt Polly," in her will, left the homestead to her 
favorite nephew, Gridley Bryant, son of her husband's 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



137 




The Wade-Bryant House 



sister, Eunice Wade, and Zina Bryant, of whose achieve- 
ments she was justly proud, as he was the builder of the 
first railway in the United States — a narrow-gauge 
road, run on wooden rails, to carry granite from the 
quarries in Quincy to vessels in the Neponset River. 

The next owner was his son, Gridley James Fox Bryant, 
foremost Boston architect of his time, who built many ot 
the public buildings in that city, including the Post- 
office, the Arlington Street Church, and the first addition 
to the State House. From him the title passed to his 
cousin, Joseph Tilden Bailey, a Boston merchant and 
business man, from whom it has become the property ot 
his heirs. 

Dr. Elisha James House 

THE house of Dr. Elisha James, at Greenbush, is one 
of the oldest houses in Scituate, which has never been 
remodeled, but has always been kept in the best repair. 
Charles Otis Ellms is authority for the statement that it 
was built in 1765 by George Otis, who was a schoolmaster, 



138 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




Dr. Elisha James House 

and taught especially mathematics, navigation, astron- 
omy, and kindred subjects, which may partly explain 
the fact of there being so many men in Scituate 
who followed the sea. There was a demand for such 
knowledge for the boys and men who manned the great 
number of ships built on North River. It was after- 
wards bought by Dr. Elisha James, and here he brought 
his bride and raised a large family of children. The 
house has always been owned by people who telt a great 
interest in its preservation as a survival from colonial 
times. The present owner, Mr. Gorham Peters, a 
descendant of the first Stockbridges, who owned the 
pond and its shores at Greenbush, has preserved all 
its original features even to the old stone doorsteps. 



The May Elms 

THE May Elms, built in 1786 by Elijah Curtis, stands 
on the Fore Road in South Scituate, just east of 
Winter Street, on land laid out for William Blackmore 
by the freemen in 1666, and the present well is said 
to be Blackmore's. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



139 







The May Elms 



During 1676, Scituate suffered from two Indian raids, 
and in the first, x'\pril 21st, Blackmore's house was 
burned and he was killed. It is supposed that here the 
raiders met with strong resistance before killing Black- 
more, for in the last few years dozens of arrowheads and 
stone tomahawks have been found in the field just west 
of Elijah Curtis' house. 

In 1786, Capt. Elijah Curtis married Rachel Clap, 
and then built the house, by the old well, which he 
restored. After the death of his first wife, he married a 
second and a third time, and it was to this last wife, 
Sally Torrey, that the property was left as part of her 
widow's dower. 

She then married Jonathan Stetson, of Pembroke, 
and leased the homestead to Rev. Samuel J. May, ot 
anti-slavery fame, then pastor of the Second Parish, 
who lived here until his removal in 1842. It was during 
his occupancy that the trees from which it derives its name 
were planted. His son, Joseph May, and John Turner, 



140 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 



boys of about the same age, assisted him in plant- 
ing. Mr. Turner related that, after planting all the 
trees he desired, Mr. May gave the one left, the 
smallest of them, to the boys, saying, "Here, boys! you 
may put this one anywhere you please." They planted 
it in the corner of the barnyard, because there the 
digging was easiest. This is the large elm in front of 
the barn, now the largest of them all. 

Soon after Mr. May's removal, Mrs. Stetson and her 
husband came back to her home. Mr. Stetson died in 
1857, and as his widow was now too old to live alone, 
her niece, Lucy Boynton, came to stay with her, and her 
aunt deeded the property to her in 1859. 

About this time the long west ell was built to replace 
an older one, and the west parlor enlarged by adding to 
it part of a bedroom, and the finish entirely renewed. 

From this time on the homestead has had many occu- 
pants until purchased in 1891 by Arthur L. Power, who in 
1905 added a second story to the ell, otherwise the house 
is much the same as when it was the home of Mr. May. 




Thh Birthplace ok Charles Turner Torrey 

The Birthplace of Charles Turner Torrey 

THE Calvin Jenkins house, so call^, close by the 
"Tan Brook," on the Country Way, at Greenbush, is 
one of the oldest in town, and has sheltered many families, 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 141 

both native and foreign. Its greatest honor is that it 
was the birthplace of Charles Turner Torrey, the anti- 
slavery Christian martyr. 

It was originally a small house with rooms on either 
side of the front door, but has been extended toward 
the north and another front door added. 

As far back as anyone now remembers, a grocery 
store was kept there by a bachelor from Parker Lane, 
South Scituate, "Lem" Jacobs, as he was called, who 
lived in one part with his mother, while in the other 
room he carried on "barter" with the farmers and their 
wives, exchanging eggs, cheese, and farm products for 
his "West India goods" — coffee, sugar, molasses, and 
rum, perhaps, as that article was always included in 
the goods sold by grocers and was always in demand. 

Calvin Jenkins was the next owner, and raised a large 
family here. 

The Jenkins House 

IN the earliest days of the town, Edward Jenkins, the 
first of that name in Scituate, had a house on the 
corner of the Driftway near Satuit Brook, the bridge 
over which is called Jenkins Bridge. 

Edward Jenkins belonged to the liberal party of 
Puritans, as is shown in his will, that "beer and bread 
should be served at his funeral and that a sermon should 
be preached" — the more strict party forbidding sermons 
or even prayers, because the church of England and of 
Rome prayed at funerals. 

The house in the picture was built about 1732, and 
stood on the lot adjoining the present Women's Club- 
house. The first known owner was David Cole, who was 
married in 1732, and had two sons, David and William. 
He left the homestead to David, who is thought to have 
been a bachelor, as there is no record of his marriage. 

The next owner was Colman Jenkins. It is supposed 
that he purchased it of David Cole about 1800. Since 
then the house has been owned and occupied by his 



142 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES 




The Jenkins House 



descendants, and the farm is still in their possession, 
although the house was taken down in 1912. f^ 

The east side of the dwelling was much older than the 
west, and the front room on that side much the larger. 
There was a very fine stairway used only for company, 
while the family must neeeis travel up and down a steep 
and narrow one, leading from the kitchen to the meal- 
chamber, where in early days huge chests of corn and 
meal were stored. 








SciTUATE Light 



The Old Lighthouse at Scituate 
Harbor 

THE lighthouse at the extremity of Cedar Point, which 
forms the northerly side of Scituate Harbor, was 
authorized by an act of Congress, May 1, 1810, with an 
appropriation of ?4,000. The lower part of the tower 
was built of granite blocks, and the upper part of brick, 
the whole structure being painted white. A substantial 
dwelling-house, connected with the tower by a long, low 
shed, was also erected, the whole being completed and 
»the light established in 1811. It was a fixed white light, 
and was of great service at that time and for many 
years after, as can readily be understood from the fact 
that there were in those days a fleet of about 100 sailing 
vessels owned at Scituate alone, besides a large number 
at each of the neighboring ports of Cohasset, Duxbury, 

( 143 ) 



144 THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE AT SCITUATE HARBOR 

and Plymouth. On account of vessels bound for Boston 
mistaking this light for Minot's Ledge Light, which was 
then also a fixed white light, it was decided to abolish 
this one, the new lighthouse at Minot's Ledge then 
being fully established. 

The decadence of the mackerel and other fisheries, as 
well as the falling off of the coastwise business, owing to 
the advent of steamships and railroads, had also greatly 
reduced the number of vessels hailing from Scituate 
and adjacent ports, so that the necessity for the light- 
house at Scituate was greatly diminished. From 1860 
to 1891 there was no light, but in that year there was 
established, at the extremity of the northerly breakwater, 
at Scituate Harbor, a small, red light on an iron spindle, 
which is visible at a distance of about four miles, and 
serves all the present needs of the limited number of 
vessels now making the port. 

Many visitors are attracted to this spot owing to the 
thrilling story of the "Army of Two," an incident of the 
War of 1812. During the spring of 1812 the British 
man-of-war Bulwark was anchored off Scituate Harbor 
for several weeks, and had repeatedly sent demands on 
shore for fresh meat and garden vegetables, which the 
citizens did not care to furnish. Many people saved their 
cattle by hiding them in the woods until the enemy 
sailed away. 

On the morning of June 11, 1814, two barges entered 
the harbor and set fire to the shipping. By this act, 
hardly to be called honorable warfare, ten vessels, 
fishing and coasting craft, were lost. Thoroughly 
aroused by this cowardly act of depredation, the citizens 
petitioned the government for protection, with the 
result that a regiment, under command of Col. John 
Barstow, was dispatched to the protection of the people 
of Scituate, and guards kept posted. These energetic 
measures seemed successful for a time in keeping the 
enemy off; unfortunately, the discipline became relaxed 
as time passed on, and the enemy did not appear in 



THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE AT SCITUATE HARBOR 145 

sufficient numbers to indicate that they again expected 
to make an attack. 

September 1, 1814, when the guards supposed to 
be on duty at the lighthouse were absent, the British 
frigate La Hogue appeared off the shore. The ship 
anchored near the lighthouse, in which, at the time, there 
was no one but the wife ot the first keeper, Capt. Simeon 
Bates, and his two daughters, Abigail and Rebecca, 
familiarly known as Nabby and Becky Bates, young 
girls in their teens. The guards had lett a fife and drum 
as well as their firearms in the lighthouse. As the 
family watched the troops disembarking preparatory to 
a landing, they felt a terrible responsibility upon them, 
and tried to devise some plan to meet the emergency, or at 
least delay their landing until the regular guard should 
come. It is said that at that time Cedar Point was 
covered with cedar trees, whence its name. 

Placing themselves so as not to be seen from the 
water, Becky commenced playing "Yankee Doodle" on 
the fife, and Nabby beat the drum. 

Two barges packed with British soldiers had left the 
ship and had covered about halt the distance to the 
landing when the stirring roll of a drum calling the 
soldiers to arms and the martial strains of "Yankee 
Doodle" from a fife rang warlike from behind the light- 
house. The boats stopped, the officer in charge con- 
sidering the forces with him too small to meet the 
reception he feared was waiting for him on shore. The 
commander-in-chief, who was watching from the frigate, 
also became alarmed, and the boats, hastily recalled 
by the firing of a gun, returned to the ship. La Hogue 
hoisted her sails and left the harbor. There had 
been no guard to receive the attack; the drummer was 
Nabby and the fifer was Becky. 

A British man-of-war and its force of soldiers had 
been frightened away by two quick-witted American girls. 

Note: After 1891 no repairs were made on the Old Lighthouse, 
and the walls were in danger of falling; soon the picturesque old 



146 THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE AT SCITUATE HARBOR 

tower, so long a familiar landmark of the sea and land, would become 
a ruin. The ancient town of Scituate in colonial days, second only 
to Plymouth in importance, has many historic spots worthy of 
preservation. 

The Chief Justice Gushing Chapter, D. A. R., believing 
that a perpetuation of these memories of patriotic deeds 
and historic places should be their work, for several 
years tried to arouse public sentiment to preserve the 
Old Lighthouse, and an effort was made to enlist the 
sympathy and influence of Hon. W. C. Levering, Con- 
gressman from our 14th District. 

During the summer of 1910 a petition was prepared by 
the interest and aid of Mr. Harvey H. Pratt, and mem- 
bers of the D. A. R. spent many busy days securing the 
signatures of all who could and would help in the cause. 

A public meeting was called at the First Parish Church 
and Congressman Lovering was invited to be present. 
Eloquent speeches were made advocating the preserva- 
tion of the Lighthouse, and the petition, with its hundreds 
of signatures, was presented to Congressman Lovering, 
who, in receiving it, spoke warmly of the work of women 
for home and country, and promised to bring the matter 
to the attention of the United States Government. 

The sudden illness and death of Mr. Lovering soon 
after, stopped further progress in this direction, and the 
matter was placed before Eugene N. Foss, his successor, 
who at once replied that he would be unable to undertake 
the business. 

The United States Lighthouse Commission, after 
being repeatedly asked to help, refused to do anything. 

In the summer of 1912, a quiet little advertisement in 
the Boston Herald offered the premises for sale at public 
auction. Effort was made by the D. A. R., assisted by 
the townspeople, to prevent the sale from being held. 
The selectmen of the town came to the rescue, and upon 
consultation with the government authorities had the 
sale postponed, hoping that some arrangement might be 
made. Since then money has been appropriated and 
the property purchased by the town. 








Brio " Cbo 
!\iilt at BrisB..' Yard, Hobert'n L»nd!n«, in 18i», by C. O. & H. Briggi. 



North River, and Shipbuilding on 
Its Banks 

THE name of North River is familiar to older genera- 
tions of seafaring men, and especially to the older 
residents of Nantucket, New Bedford, Sag Harbor, 
Barnstable, Provincetown, Boston, and the South Shore. 
Great Britain was a market for a large number of North 
River built vessels before the Revolution. Prior to 180G, 
North River was known the world over; vessels were not 
designated as built in Scituate, Marshfield, Hanover, or 
Pembroke, but on the "North River." I have unearthed 
the records of over one thousand and twenty-five vessels 
built on "North River," and the United States flag was 
carried around the world, and to the following countries 
for the first time, at the mastheads of North River built 

(147) 



148 NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 

vessels: Great Britain, Canada, the Northwest Coast, to 
the Black Sea and China. The largest number of boats 
built on the river in a single year was thirty, in 1801, 
and the year 1818 shows the next largest number, twenty- 
four. During the five years from 1799 to 1804, inclusive, 
there were built here one hundred and fifteen vessels, an 
average of twenty-three a year. During the ten years 
from 1794 to 1804, inclusive, there were one hundred and 
seventy-eight vessels built here, or an average of seven- 
teen each year. 

Appreciating the advantages to be derived from the 
encouragement of shipbuilding in New England, mana- 
gers of the Massachusetts Bay Company in London, in 
their first recorded letter, dated April 17, 1629, state 
that six shipwrights had been sent to New England, of 
which Robert Moulton was the chief. The first vessel 
built in Massachusetts Bay Colony was the bark 
Blessings of the Bay, 30 tons, owned by Governor 
Winthrop. She was launched into the Mystic River at 
Medford, July 4, 1631. 

Geographically locating the shipyards on the banks 
of the North River in Scituate, the first yard after leaving 
the Hanover line was the "Fox Hill Yard." We find 
records of ships built in this yard from 1690, when 
Nathaniel Church and John Palmer built vessels here, 
until 1869, when the schooner Hope On, of 191 tons 
burthen, was built here. She was 100 feet long, 24 feet 
broad, draught 11 feet, built of white oak anci yellow 
pine, iron and copper fastened. Some time after 1877 
she was sold as a whaler to parties in Talcahurana, Chili. 
Between the above dates, Michael Ford, William 
Copeland, Elias Pratt, Elisha Tolman, Mr. Merritt, 
Capt. Thomas Waterman, Joseph S. Bates, Capt. Elisha 
Barstow, and Thomas B. Waterman built ships here. 

John Palmer, Jr., was said to have been on the Council 
of Governor x^ndros, and according to Drake's ' History 
of Boston " was sent as a prisoner to England with the 
Governor about 1690. 



NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 149 

The largest vessel ever built at this yard was the ship 
Hilo, 390 tons, by Waterman and Bates, in 1833, and 
sold to New York. It is said to have cost ?1,000 to get 
her out of the river. 

The schooner .SV. Paul, 94 tons, was built at this yard 
and owned by Capt. John Gushing, ot Hanover, and 
William H. Talbot, of Scituate. She was commanded by 
Capt. Bill Talbot and used in the coasting trade in the 
Gulf of Mexico. Capt. John Manson, commander of the 
bark To7n Corwin, of 250 tons, which was launched 
from this yard in 1847, and owned in Scituate Harbor, 
was also a member of the crew Rosebud, which was taken 
out to the sea, together with the Orient and Sophronia, 
by the British soldiers and sailors from the frigate Nymph 
and the British 74, La Hogue, when these vessels sent 
their boats into Scituate Harbor in 1812 and 1813, and 
burned or carried off practically all the vessels there. 

The schooner Abbie Bradford, of 114 tons, built of 
oak, and launched at this yard, in September, 1860, was 
one of the first vessels captured by the Confederate 
privateer Alabama. Capt. Semmes bonded her and let 
her go. She was finally wrecked in a gale, in December, 
1887, near the port of Santos, Brazil. 

The forests of white oak which the early settlers found 
here have long since been converted into ships. The 
black walnut has entirely disappeared, the spruce nearly 
so, and few white oaks of any size are now cut. Pine, ash, 
beech, maple, birch, sassafras, and walnut are now to be 
found in our forests, but not in sufficient quantities or 
size to support even one shipyard on the banks of our 
famous North River. 

Records are found showing that Matthew Stetson 
built vessels at the Bald Hills as early as 1740, and was 
followed by other members of the family in 1786. It is 
believed that vessels were built on the Cornet's farm 
some seventy years earlier. 

The next yard of which we have record on South 
Scituate's shore is the Wanton Yard, on the old Wanton 



150 NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 

estate. The original yard was made into two by the 
building of a wall by the Delanos and Fosters. Edward 
Wanton began shipbuilding here probably as early as 
1670, and the latest ships recorded as having been built 
by him at his yard were in 1707. Wanton built many 
vessels for Benjamin Gallup, of Boston, and for three 
years, 1700-01-02, Robert Barker was in partnership 
with him. The first record we find of a ship built by him 
was the sloop Black Thome, 30 tons, for Benjamin 
Gallup, Capt. Joseph Holland, Master. Many of the 
vessels built at this yard were used as privateers during 
the French War. 

In 1730, John Stetson, a descendant of Cornet Robert 
Stetson, purchased the Wanton Yard, and later, vessels 
were built here by Ebenezer and Snow Stetson, who also 
built at the Bald Hill. 

The Delanos built on the Wanton Yard soon after 
1700. One of the largest ships built on the North River 
was built there by William Delano in 1810. This was 
the Lady Madison, of 450 tons, 112 feet long, 30 feet 
broad, and 15 feet deep. She was owned by Thomas 
Hazard, Jr., of New Bedford, and Jacob Barker, of New 
York. She was lost in 1815 on the Goodwin Sands in the 
English Channel. A still larger vessel was built at this 
yard by Samuel Hartt in 1815. This was the ship Mt. 
Vernon, 464 tons, which was sold to Philadelphia. She 
proved to be a very successful ship. Elisha Foster also 
built at this yard, and in 1811-12 the Fosters built the 
ships Franciscan and America. One of these vessels was 
not launched for several years, or until the Embargo 
Act was repealed. She was much admired as she lay at 
Union Bridge, until her spars and rigging were sent down 
from Boston. Elisha Foster & Sons built at the yard 
in 1815 the ship Globe, of 293 tons. A horrible mutiny 
occurred on this vessel in 1824, off Fanning's Island, in 
which the captain and the mates were killed. She was 
finally sold and broken up in Buenos Ayres in 1828. In 
the year 1817 the Fosters built six vessels, the largest 



NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 151 

recorded number built at any yard on the river in one 
year. In 1818, two vessels were launched in one day, 
the ship Pacific and the Peruvian. Ash, from Pembroke, 
and pine and oak, were used in their construction, and 
Samuel Curtis was paid $1.14 tor twelve gallons of cider 
for the launching ot both ships. The Pacific was lost at 
Kodiac, near Alaska, in 1866, and the Peruvian was 
whaling in the Pacific until 1857, when she was broken 
up at New Bedford. In 1823, the North River and Boston 
packet sloop Albion was built at this yard by Samuel 
and Seth Foster & Co. In 1825, the Fosters built the 
Smyrna., which became famous ever after 1830, when she 
carried the Stars and Stripes into the Black Sea for the 
first time. In 1831, Turner Foster and Joseph Clapp 
formed a partnership and built on the part known as the 
"Old Curtis Yard." 

After the Fosters left the Wanton Yard, it was next 
occupied by Cummings Litchfield and James S. Burrill. 
They built the last ship at this yard, which was in 
the year 1840, the Franklin., of 172 tons, sold to 
Provincetown. 

Next below the Wanton Yard, on the South Scituate 
side of the river, we come to the Chittenden Yard, 
located at the first rise of land just above and near the 
mouth of the Second Herring Brook. Job Randall was 
the first to build ships here, about 1690. The last vessel 
of which we have record as having been built here by 
Randall was the brigantine Adventure, of 60 tons, in 1705, 
for Andrew Belcher, Samuel Lillie, and David Bucklyn, 
of Boston. Randall was succeeded by Edward or Isaac 
Prouty, and these builders, in turn, were succeeded by 
the Chittendens, who built here, as early as 1709, the 
sloop Seaflovoer., of 30 tons. 

Obadiah and Noah Merritt built vessels there as late 
as 1785, when they built the schooner Lively, of 56 tons, 
and in 1795 Samuel Sylvester built the schooner Mary 
and Nancy, of 41 tons, here. He also built at Cohasset 
as late as 1806. George Torrey was building at this yard 



152 NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 

as early as 1794 the schooner, afterward the brig, Betsey, 
of 1 11 tons, and as late as 1799 he built the schooner 
Lydia, of 81 tons. 

James Torrey also built here, and later, George, Jr., and 
David Torrey. In 1800, Joseph Nash built the sloop 
Packet, of 37 tons, at this yard. In 1812, George Torrey 
& Sons built their last vessel, the schooner New Sally, of 
56 tons, and then removed to the Block-House Yard. 
They were succeeded at the Chittenden Yard by Laban 
Souther, who later formed a partnership with Elijah 
Cudworth, which was terminated by the death of Mr. 
Souther, in 1840. Mr. Cudworth then took his four sons 
into the firm. They procured their timber from the 
vicinity at first, the forests still yielding plentifully 
white and black oak and other timber suitable for ship- 
building. Later, timber was procured from the forests 
of Bridgewater and Abington at a much greater cost. 
About 1859, timber being scarce, the firm dissolved. 
They had not built many vessels after 1850, and as early 
as 1851 Henry Merritt built at this yard the schooner 
Sarah Jane, 67 tons, for New York parties. The last ship 
built in the Chittenden Yard was the schooner Helen M. 
Foster, of 90 tons, draught 10 feet, built by Joseph 
Merritt, of oak, iron and copper fastened. This was the 
last launching from the banks of North River from 1871 
to the present time. 

The next yard below the Chittenden was the Block- 
House Yard, on the bend of the river, near the spot 
where the block house, or garrison, attacked by the 
Indians during King Philip's War, was located. The 
Block-House Yard was first occupied by the Jameses 
and the Tildens early in 1700. The James family built 
here as late as 1795, when William James built the ship 
Mary, and in the certificate he swore that she was "full 
built," that "she had 2 decks and 3 masts . . . burthen 
286 tons." Daniel Hatch is said to have built the schooner 
Saucy Jack, of 90 tons, here in 1802. William James 
became a partner of Jotham Tilden, with whom he built 



NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 153 




Last Launching on North River 



vessels. James Torrey built here in 1806 the schooner 
Phoebe, 117 tons. George and David Torrey next built 
here. In 1816, they built the Mary and Polly, of 77 tons, 
followed by many other vessels, and William James, Jr., 
and David Torrey began building vessels here about 
1825, when they built the brig Le Fante, followed by 
many other vessels, including the schooner Columbia, in 
which Rev. William P. Tilden, when quite young, went 
on a fishing cruise. Tradition says the last vessels built 
here were the brig Abraham and the ship Enterprise, 
built by the Torreys in 1847-48. 

We next come to the Briggs Yard at Hobart's Landing. 
This yard was in Scituate, a short distance up the river 
from Little's Bridge. Thomas Nichols, a shipwright, 
built vessels here in 1645; he was succeeded by his son- 
in-law, Samuel House, Jr., and he in turn was succeeded 
by Jeremiah and Walter Hatch. Israel Hobart came to 
Scituate in 1676 from Hingham, where his house had 
been burned that spring by the Indians. He carried on 
shipbuilding at Hobart's Landing, and his house stood 
near the shipyard. It was a spacious mansion adorned 



154 NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 

with cherubs over the door, carved from wood. Here he 
built the Swallow, the Desitr, and many other ships. In 
1750, James Briggs began building at this yard; he was in 
the French War and belonged to the New England troops 
led by Col. John Winslow when they took Louisburgh in 
1744. In 1775, he was in charge of a watch box on Third 
Cliff. In 1776, he was called upon to volunteer in the 
Continental Army. He had no gun, but drilled with a 
stick of wood. When asked what he was going to do with 
the stick, he replied, "I am going to knock down the first 
British soldier I see and take his gun." When discharged 
from the service, he came home with a British musket. 
Prior to this, however, he built a ship that became 
famous the world over. This was the ship Colutnbia, 
which he built at Hobart's Landing in 1773. She was the 
first ship to carry the American flag around the world, 
and the first ship to visit the Northwest Coast, where the 
Columbia River was named for her. 

The publication, in 1784, of Capt. Cook's journal of 
his third voyage awakened a widespread interest in the 
possibility of an important trade on the Northwest Coast. 
In Boston, there were a few gentlemen who took up the 
matter seriously and determined to embark on the 
enterprise on their own account. The leading spirit 
among them was James Barrell, a merchant of distinction, 
whose financial ability, cultivated tastes, and wide 
acquaintance with affairs gave him a position of ac- 
knowledged influence in business and social circles. 

Associated with him in close companionship was 
Charles Bulfinch, a recent graduate from Harvard, who 
had just returned from pursuing special studies in Europe. 
His father, Dr. Thomas Bulfinch, lived on Bowdoin 
Square, and often entertained at his house the friends who 
were inclined to favor the project. They read together 
Cook's report on an abundant supply of valuable furs 
offered by the natives in exchange for beads and other 
trifles. Accordingly, in the year 1787, they made all 
necessary arrangements for putting out an expedition. 



NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 155 

The other partners were Samuel Brown, a prosperous 
merchant; John Derby, a shipmaster of Salem; Capt. 
Crowell Hatch, a resident of Cambridge; and John 
Marden Pintard, of the well-known firm of Lewis Pintard 
& Co., of New York. 

These six gentlemen subscribed over fifty thousand 
dollars, dividing the stock into fourteen shares, and 
purchased the ship Columbia, or, as she was often 
called, the Columbia Rediviva. This was the ship built 
in 1773 by James Briggs at Hobart's Landing, on the 
once busy little river. She was a full-rigged ship, 83 feet 
long, and measured 212 tons. She had two decks, a 
figurehead, and a square stern, and was mounted with 
ten guns. While cruising on the Northwest Coast, Capt. 
Gray, the commander, espied the entrance which 
Vancouver had passed a few days before, considering it a 
small river not worthy of his attention, and continuing on 
his course. Capt. Gray felt differently, and the wind being 
favorable, he bore away and ran in under full sail through 
the breakers. He at once saw that his surmises were 
correct. Here was a magnificent stream of clear water, 
four or five miles wide, up which he sailed ten miles and 
then came to anchor in ten fathoms. 

On the 14th of May, 1792, the ship Columbia stood up 
the river some fifteen miles farther, and being convinced 
that it was navigable for an indefinite distance, Capt. 
Gray decided to return. On the 19th, he landed with his 
crew near the mouth of the river and formally named it 
after his ship, the Columbia, raising the flag and planting 
some coins under a pine tree near the headland, which he 
named "Cape Hancock," and the low spit on the opposite 
shore he named "Point Adams." 

There was ample proof that Capt. Gray, in the Columbia, 
was the first white man to cross the bar and anchor on 
those waters. He made the first chart and raised the 
first flag that ever floated over them, and the name he 
gave the river has been universally accepted. 



156 NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 

Tradition says the Washington, her consort, was built 
at North River; this, with the Columbia, was the first 
American vessel to double the stormy Cape Horn. 

An old ship carpenter, Capt. Benjamin White, living 
in Marshfield in 1889, in his ninety-first year, is authority 
for the fact that James Briggs built "the largest vessel ever 
built on the North River prior to 1800." This was the 
ship Massachusetts, of about 400 tons, built in 1780. 
The last ship we have record of having been built here 
was the New Bedford, of 253 tons, built in 1793, and sold 
to Portsmouth, N. H. James Briggs was succeeded at 
the shipyard by his son, Thomas Barker Briggs, who 
built the schooner Three Friends, of 98 tons, in 1797, the 
Iris, the Lucy, the Gushing, and, in 1803, the schooner 
Priscilla, 60 tons, of Chatham, which was captured by 
the British in 1813. Thomas Barker Briggs enlisted on a 
privateer during the War of 1812, was taken prisoner on 
the 12th of May, 1813, and was later confined in 
Dartmoor Prison, England, from which he was not 
discharged until the end of the war. He was succeeded 
at the yard by Henry and Cushing Otis Briggs. Henry 
had learned the art of shipbuilding at the Wanton Yard, 
while Cushing Otis Briggs served his time at the Brick 
Kiln Yard in Pembroke, under Ichabod Thomas, whose 
daughter Mercy he afterwards married; they resided at 
the old homestead of James Briggs, then occupied by 
Lucy and Sally, daughters of James Briggs. This house 
was built by Robert Thomson, mason, about 1712. 
Among the many ships built by them at this yard was 
the brig Kronstadt, copper and iron fastened, 273 tons 
register, length 100 feet, breadth 24 feet, depth 12 feet, 
with two decks and two masts and a full model, for 
Nathaniel Emmons, Thomas B. Wales, Samuel Quincy, 
and Moses Wheeler, of Boston. Henry and Cushing Otis 
Briggs were succeeded by Charles C. and William T. 
Briggs, who also built, in connection with their father, 
under the firm name of Cushing O. Briggs & Sons. One 
of the last vessels built at the yard was by Cushing 



NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 157 

O. Briggs & Sons, in 1841, the bark Susmi Janc^ 274 tons, 
for Edward and Henry W. Fletcher, of Boston. She was 
used in the Mediterranean trade, and in 1874 was sailing 
under the British flag from St. John, New Brunswick, 
Capt. Hecksford, Master. 

From 1650 to 1864, there were a great many ships 
built in Scituate Harbor. William James, tradition says, 
was the first to build ships here, possibly as early as 1650. 
He was succeeded by Job Otis, who, records say, " built 
the katch Little Otis of Scituate, whereof Samuel Otis is at 
present master, built at Scituate aforesaid, being a round 
stern vessel of a burthen of about 30 tons, in the present 
year seventeen hundred." The brig Unity was built in 
1708, also the katch Sarah's Adventwe, and many other 
vessels. 

John Kent built here as early as 1700, and his de- 
scendant, Samuel, built ships at the same yard one 
hundred years later. William Vinal built vessels in 
Scituate Harbor in 1786, and was succeeded by his son 
William. Samuel Kent built more vessels than any 
other ship carpenter at the Harbor during the first part 
of the nineteenth century; his yard was located near 
the mouth of Satuit Brook. 

Samuel's father, David Kent, was a shipwright from 
Scituate, and later lived near Clark & Hart's shipbuilding 
yards, adjacent to the North Battery in Boston, and 
probably built ships there. 

In 1798, Samuel Kent built the schooner Eliza at 
Scituate Harbor. This was followed by the building of 
many other vessels by him, some of which were sold to 
Boston, others to Plymouth parties, and at least one, the 
Nancy, of 94 tons, was used as the North River packet. 

In 1813, Anthony Waterman built at the Kent Yard 
the schooner Old Carpenter and the schooner Jolly Tar. 

The last vessel we find built by Samuel Kent at his 
yard was the brig Oracle, of 144 tons, in 1818. Beginning 
about 1834, James S. and B. W. Briggs built at the Kent 
Yard, though later they removed to the Will James Yard, 



158 NORTH RIVER: SHIPBUILDING ON ITS BANKS 

back of the old Dunbar store, which had been owned 
previously by Abijah Otis. In 1841, James O. Curtis 
built the bark J. W. Paige, of 198 tons. He later re- 
moved to Medford. The same year William Vinal built 
the schooner Sarah, 63 tons, at the Melzar Turner Yard. 
This was used as a packet between Scituate and Boston 
until she was sold for the southern trade. 

As late as 1849, the Briggs brothers built the brig 
Martha Allen, 283 tons, which in 1859 was sailing under 
the German flag. The last vessel built by Sylvester and 
Barnabas Briggs was the brig Eveline, 650 tons, for 
Capt. Joseph Smith, of Cohasset, in 1859. 

About 1837, Melzar Turner left the shipyards at 
Pembroke, where he was building with Luther Briggs, 
and occupied a yard opposite the residence of Capt. 
Henry Vinal. He built many vessels here, mainly for 
Boston parties. About 1845, Luther Briggs joined him 
at the Harbor, and together they built the brig Samuel 
Soper and the schooner Spartacus and other vessels, the 
last of which we have record being the bark Almatia, 
475 tons, built in 1856. At different times Edwin Otis 
and Andrew Cole were in partnership with Briggs and 
Turner, and this combined firm built, at the Harbor, the 
schooner Meteor, 116 tons, in 1864. 

Shipbuilding, once the largest and most important 
business ever carried on within the limits of Scituate, has 
gone; but the romance still remains, and will always be 
remembered, at least by some, who have, tucked away 
in their attics, curios and trinkets brought home from 
foreign lands in world famous "North River built 
vessels." 



Navigation 

SCITUATE being a coast town, it follows that many 
of her citizens have been interested in a coasting trade, 
and one with the West Indies and foreign countries. 
Their sons studied navigation, and have commanded 
many locally built vessels. To even mention the names 
of the many who have been captains of fishermen and 
coasters, would be next to impossible — - their name is 
legion. Most of them were owners, or part owners, of 
the vessels they commanded. From the earliest days, 
this trade had been a lucrative one, and ownership of a 
vessel, or shares in one, proved an attractive and popular 
investment tor the well-to-do citizens. 

During the last century, there were many Scituate 
men who commanded noted vessels, and are remembered 
for long service, or for interesting adventures or ex- 
periences. Among them we note the Manson family, 
which for four generations have commanded vessels, 
many of them built at North River, or the Harbor yards. 
The first Capt. John Manson came to Scituate in 1755, 
and he and his son, Capt. Nehemiah, were soldiers in 
the Revolution. Capt. Nehemiah lived on the site of the 
Allen Memorial Library, and had eight sons, one of 
whom was drowned when very young off the wharf at 
Scituate, and a second while on a fishing voyage. The 
remaining six, Thomas, Nehemiah, John, Joel Lincoln, 
George, and William, became masters of vessels, sailing 
to many ports in all parts of the globe. Capt. Joel 
Lincoln was the owner and captain of the barque Martha 
Allen, built at Scituate Harbor in 1849. Capt. John 
made his first voyage with his father when he was ten 
years old, in the Rosebud, one of the vessels carried off, 
but afterward returned, by the British ship La Hogue, 
in the War of 1812. Capt. Manson spent his whole life 
on the ocean. He gradually rose in rank until he 

(159) 



160 NAVIGATION 

commanded the M«-zW/«w, then the largest ship afloat, and 
afterwards the Golden Fleece^ one of the finest and 
largest sailing from Boston. He made hundreds of 
voyages, and sailed for many years for the firm of W. F. 
Weld & Co., of Boston, and on one voyage made for 
them ?60,000. 

His brother, Capt. William, began life on the fishing 
boats at nine years, was later in the West India trade, 
and eventually commanded vessels in the Mediterranean 
fruit trade, the well-known Stamboul ■A.ndi Rebecca Goddard. 
His last service was in the California trade, when he was 
master of the clipper ships Nightingale, Dexter, and Pharos. 

Two sons of Capt. John Manson — Captains John 
Lincoln and Edmund Sewall — have also been masters 
of clipper ships. Capt. John L. at twenty-four com- 
manded the Golden Fleece, bound tor San Francisco, and 
later the Mariposa, the first full-rigged iron ship to sail 
under the American flag. He doubled Cape Horn thirty- 
six times. His brother, Capt. Edmund Sewall, went to 
sea at an early age, and rose rapidly to the command 
of ships in the California, China, and African trade. 
Among his ships were the Valparaiso, Edith, Mariposa, 
and Magellan. 

Capt. Ichabod Cook learned navigation from his 
brothers John and Samuel, and all three were masters 
of vessels before they were twenty-five. His foreign 
voyages were made as first ofiicer with Capt. James 
Damon, of Scituate. In March, 1852, Capt. Cook 
sailed from Scituate in the schooner Sarah Brooks — 
built and owned in Scituate — • bound for a southern 
port. His crew were all related, and it is supposed that 
the vessel was lost the first night out, as it was never 
heard from. 

Capt. Henry Vinal, a descendant of the enterprising 
widow, Ann Vinal, who came with her three children 
from England to Scituate, in 1636, sailed to foreign 
ports in the bark J. A. Jesuroon, built in Scituate, and 
of which he was part owner. 



NAVIGATION 161 

Capt. Moses Rich Colman was in the coasting trade 
for forty years, and afterward the California trade in 
the Asa Eldridge, doubling Cape Horn in her ten times. 
His last voyage lasted forty-three months because of 
the Civil War. During that time he went around the 
world twice, stopping at the East Indies and London. 

In Union Cemetery, at Scituate, is a stone which reads, 
"Capt. Ezekiel Jones. The last Scituate Veteran of the 
War of 1812. Raised from the ranks in the Navy to a 
Captaincy in the U. S. Revenue Marine." 

Capt. Jones was best known as "Commodore Jones," 
so styled by his friends and neighbors. In the War of 
18 12, twelve men from Scituate volunteered for theUnited 
States Navy. One of these was Ezekiel Jones, who served 
continuously, and was engaged with the enemy four times, 
once off the coast of Africa, where he was severely 
wounded and taken prisoner. In 1821, the President of 
the United States commissioned him as first lieutenant 
in the U. S. Revenue Marine. This promotion was a 
reward for his gallantry in suppressing one of the bloodiest 
mutinies that ever took place on the high seas, on board 
the ship Oglethorpe, on which Capt. Jones was the chief 
officer. He was in the United States service over forty 
years, during which time he was a captain in the Revenue 
Service thirty years. During the Florida War, he was 
commander of the U. S. Cutter Ingham, which cruised 
along the coast of Mexico for the suppression of the 
slave trade. There he met the Mexican ship Montezuma, 
and rescued a large number of Americans, who had 
been captured from the American schooner Martha, 
and held as prisoners. 

Capt. Isaac Whittemore came to Scituate and married 
Betsey Tower in 1811. He was master of the ship Caro- 
line, died in 1819, and was buried on the island of St. 
Helena. The log-book of the Caroline, owned by Horace 
T. Fogg, contains much interesting information of voy- 
ages to the northwest coast, to Honolulu, and other 
Pacific ports, in the early part of the last century. 




The "Old Sloop" 



Church History 



First Parish Church 

THE settlement of Scituate was begun before 1628 
by the "Men of Kent," from England, who were 
of Puritan stock, possessing the sturdy virtues of 
the early Saxons. Many of the best came to "the wilder- 
ness called Scituate" to escape the persecution to 
which they were subjected in England. 

(162) 



FIRST CHURCH 163 

They were followers of the Rev. John Robinson, 
worshiped in a meeting-house made of logs, thatched 
with grass from the neighboring marshes, and located 
on the brow of a hill overlooking the ocean. Around it 
were clustered the first graves in what is now a carefully 
preserved burial-ground, called Meeting-house Lane 
Cemetery, where the oldest gravestone, that of Mr. 
John Williams, is dated 1694. 

The first minister, Mr. Giles Saxton, came in 1631 and 
left in 1634, the date of organization of the church. 
Very little is known of him, but tradition says there was 
contention over a point of doctrine. 

Mr. John Lothrop was the first minister after the 
organization of the church, and a very learned man. 
Arriving with a company of thirty of his congregation 
from England, September 27, 1634, he found a considera- 
ble settlement, and he was received as an old friend. In 
1639, on account of a disagreement between him and his 
flock on the subject of baptism, he removed to Barn- 
stable, taking with him twenty-two male church mem- 
bers and their families, and establishing there a flourish- 
ing church in the West Parish. He kept a valuable diary 
of events connected with both churches, which has been 
published in an early number of the A^. E. Genealogical 
and Historical Register. He died November 8, 1653. 

The church in Scituate was generously upheld by the 
devotion and enthusiasm of Timothy Hatherly, who 
contributed liberally to its support during his lifetime, 
and by bequests after his death. As early as 1654 he 
presented to the church "a parsonage and lands," which 
was probably the house afterwards improved and known 
as the "Old Parsonage," built in 1643, on the hill north 
of Union Hall. It was occupied by the ministers of the 
First Church until the time of the Rev. Nehemiah 
Thomas, and was taken down in 1897. Hatherly also 
gave the church his house and lands at Farm Neck, later 
known as the Turner farm. 



.164 CHURCH HISTORY 

On the ministers' monument in the ancient churchyard 
of the First Church, in Meeting-house Lane, are the names 
of the ministers, beginning with Giles Saxton, and ending 
with Edmund Quincy Sewall, 1848; while on a bronze 
tablet erected by Chief Justice Cushing Chapter, 
Daughters ot the American Revolution, is an inscription 
taken from the diary of Rev. John Lothrop: 

First Meeting House 

Erected on this Lott 

Aug. Ye 2nd & 3rd dayes 1636 

Exercised in Novemb. 10 & 11, 1636. 

This tablet was placed by the 

Chief Justice Cushing Chapter D. A. R. 

OF SCITUATE, 1912. 

The early ministers were designated by plain Mr., 
which was then a title of great honor. Mr. Charles 
Chauncey, of Plymouth, was called to the church in 1641, 
though only by a small majority, and Scituate began 
under him a thirty-three years' controversy on the 
subject of baptism. It is said that nearly one-hall ol the 
church members remonstrated on account of his ideas on 
baptism. He believed in immersion for all, even for 
infants. Many ot these protesting members were resolute 
in not submitting to these forms, and by the advice ot 
the Ruling Elders in the colony finally withdrew, and 
organized the Second Church of Christ in Scituate, 
February 2, 1642, calling it the "Upper Parish." 

Mr. Chauncey was of a zealous, arbitrary temperament, 
and the trouble in the church was not allayed. He left 
the church in 1654 with the intention of going to England, 
but while in Boston was asked to accept the presidency 
of Harvard College, which position he retained until his 
death, in 1672, aged eighty-two. 

Rev. Henry Dunster came from England in 1640, and 
was the first president of Harvard College, which position 
he resigned in 1654, and came to Scituate as pastor of the 



FIRST CHURCH 165 

First Church. He died in 1659, in Scituate, and was 
buried in Cambridge. 

Thus the hrst two presidents of Harvard College were 
ministers of the First Church of Christ in Scituate. 

The second meeting-house was erected on the same 
location as the first in 1682, and the third also on the 
same spot in 1708, at a cost of "not more than £300." 
Following Rev. Jeremiah Cushing, installed in 1691 at 
a salary of £60, came in 1707 Rev. Nathaniel Pitcher. 
Tradition speaks of him as a gentleman of very agreeable 
person and manners, a preacher of more than ordinary 
ability, and remarkable for promoting peace and union 
among his people. His relations with the other church 
were very friendly and cordial. It was during his 
ministry that the third meeting-house was built on the 
old site, after long controversy. 

In 1724, Rev. Shearjashub Bourne was called. During 
his long ministry of thirty-seven years a new meeting- 
house was built, in 1737, on a new site called "the gore of 
land," a short distance east of the hill where the present 
Unitarian meeting-house stands; the people at the west 
part having grown numerous enough to gain this long- 
talked-of result. Mr. Bourne's health failed in 1761, and 
he resigned. 

A record book was carefully kept by him during his 
ministry, of the baptisms, marriages, and deaths, covering 
upwards of forty years. This book, begun in 1707 in the 
beautiful handwriting of Rev. Nathaniel Pitcher, contains 
many valuable records not found in the other town books, 
and is now in the custody of the First Church. 

The fifth meeting-house was erected during the pasto- 
rate of Rev. Ebenezer Grosvenor (1763-80), in 1774, 
on the top of the hill, a "double decker," so called, wide 
galleries on three sides, and two rows of large windows 
with a very high and well-proportioned steeple at the 
west end, and a portico at the east end. This church was 
discernible for a long distance at sea, and was gladly 
hailed bv home-bound mariners as the first sight of land. 



166 CHURCH HISTORY 

They called it the "Old Sloop." Town meetings were 
held here, as they had been in all the churches from the 
earliest times. This was the North Meeting-house, and 
the Second Society's was the South Meeting-house; 
the town meetings were called alternately in each. In 
the time of the Revolutionary War the soldiers were 
camped in the meeting-houses and were drilled on the 
common near by. In 1775, the parish voted to carry 
firearms to church to repel the British troops which 
might pass through the town. 

For the next seven years the church was without a 
pastor, but in 1787 settled Rev. Ebenezer Dawes, who 
died at Scituate in 1791. 

Rev. Nehemiah Thomas, ot Marshfield, Harvard 
College, 1789, was ordained to the ministry at Scituate 
Church, November 14, 1792, and preached there till his 
death, in 1831, thirty-nine years. At this time the con- 
troversy arose which caused the division of the church 
into two societies, the Unitarian and the Trinitarian. 
He belonged to the liberal wing of the church, called 
Unitarian, as distinguished from the Trinitarian. This 
wave of dissension swept over the other Puritan churches 
at this time and many other old First churches were 
divided by it. Discussion ran high and appeals were 
made to the courts by the seceders in many cases, but 
the decree of the court was that the records, plate, and 
property, should still remain with the First churches — 
though the seceders were welcome to retain the doctrines 
if they wished. Mr. Thomas was an able and friendly 
man, and sustained himself during this acrimonious time 
and under these peculiar difficulties in a manner reflecting 
great credit to himself and the church members under 
his charge. The separation took place in 1825. 

Mr. Thomas' home was the colonial house on Brushy 
Hill, at Greenbush, later owned by Frederic T. Cole. 
During his thirty-nine years of ministry he baptized 
four hundred persons, children and adults; admitted one 
hundred twenty-four to membership in the church; 



FIRST CHURCH 167 

married three hundred eighty-two couples; and attended 
about sixteen funerals each year. 

The meeting-house was first heated by stoves in 1824; 
the first bell was bought in 1811; and a new hymn-book 
introduced in place of the old Sternhold & Hopkins book 
first used. When the church was remodeled, in 1825, 
the portico at the east end was removed and sold to 
Asa Merritt, who placed it on his own land and made 
it into a house. Up to this time, about two hundred years 
from the first settlement of the town, there had been five 
church buildings replacing each other, only one, the last, 
being a frame building; and eleven ministers giving long 
terms of service to each. Five of these ministers were 
graduates of Harvard College, one of Yale College, and 
one of Oxford and one of Cambridge, England. 

In 1838, the church again needed repairs, or a new house 
built, and a committee was chosen, reporting, in 1 839, that 
the cost of a new church like Mr. May's, at South Scituate, 
would be about J4,000, but the present meeting-house 
could be repaired for ? 1,700, including a new pulpit and 
pews. It was at this time that the sounding-board was 
taken down, though the red damask draperies back of 
the pulpit were retained. There were sixty-eight pews 
on the floor and twelve in the galleries, seating four 
hundred people. 

Rev. Edmund Quincy Sewall succeeded to the pastor- 
ate in 1831, and continued till 1848. He came of an 
educated and distinguished ancestry. He was a lineal 
descendant of the learned Judge Samuel Sewall, of 
Boston, as well as of the Quincys of Quincy. His home 
in Scituate was on Kent Street, in the house afterwards 
owned by Charles Vinal. When chosen minister the 
salary ofi^ered was ?700. After 1831 the state legislature 
abolished the law which provided for the support of 
churches by taxation, and the system of a voluntary 
tax on pews was tried. 

After 1848 there was a series of short pastorates lasting 
until 1877, when Rev. Allan Gay Jennings, of the South 



168 CHURCH HISTORY 

Hingham church, occupied also the pulpit of this 
church. 

It was on July 4, 1879, that the "Old Sloop" at 
Scituate was burned, through the carelessness of boys 
with firecrackers, who played there in the early morning. 
About noon, smoke was seen coming from the porch, but 
the fire had such headway that it was impossible to do 
more than save a few of the furnishings. The bell was 
tolled as long as possible, and anxious and stricken 
friends, far and near, watched the progress of the flames, 
and many tears were shed as the lofty spire, 100 feet high, 
trembled and fell, with a last tolling of the big bell, 
which was afterwards found a mass of melted metal in 
the ruins. 

The "Old Sloop" was a great loss to the parish, for the 
insurance of ?3,000 which had been placed on it had ex- 
pired. The people rallied around the ruins, and with 
Mr. Jennings for a helper and adviser, were soon started 
in rebuilding on the same spot. Sons and daughters of 
the old church responded generously to the call for 
help, many of whom were living in far-off lands. At a 
church meeting held July 16, 1879, it was voted to 
rebuild. Contributions were solicited; the corner-stone 
was laid May 10, 1880, and the chvirch was dedicated 
May 18, 1881. 

Since that time several ministers, each serving for a 
short period, have filled the pulpit, prominent among 
whom was the Rev. Nathaniel Seaver, who served as 
pastor for five years, during a time of parish harmony 
and prosperity. 

During the pastorates of later years, the meeting-house 
on the hill has continued to send forth its message of 
"The Fatherhood of God, 

The Brotherhood of Man, 

The Leadership of Jesus, 

Salvation by Character; 

The Progress of Mankind 

onward and upward forever." 



SECOND CHURCH 



169 




The Second Parish Church 

The Second Church of Christ in Scituate, 

now the First Parish Church 

of Norwell 

THE same diversity of opinion regarding baptism 
that from the beginning had made the Scituate 
church inharmonious was responsible for the 
form.ation of the "Second Church up the North River." 
There remained in the church at Scituate two of the 
most influential, educated, and strong-minded men of 
their period, Timothy Hatherly and William Vassall. 
When the majority of the members of the First Church, 
with Mr. Hatherly as their leader, extended the call to 
Mr. Chauncey, the unfortunate controversy seemed 
likely to remain settled for a period; but, unfortunately, 
the temperament of their new pastor was not calculated 
to unite the difi^ering parties. Nevertheless, without 
Mr. Vassall as a leader of the minority, Mr. Hatherly's 
influence, with that of Mr. Chauncey's other friends. 



170 CHURCH HISTORY 

would have been strong enough to have delayed the 
formation of the Second Church for some years, or until 
the settlers who had followed Cornet Stetson up the 
river were numerous enough to demand church privi- 
leges nearer home. 

The first covenant of the Second Church was signed 
February 2, 1642, probably at the home of William 
Vassall, at Belle House Neck. The ordination of their 
first pastor was on September 2, 1645, when Mr. William 
Wetherell was installed by the laying on of the hands of 
the Ruling Elders of the new church, in accordance with 
the principles of Congregationalism. The first meeting- 
house stood "fifty rods east of Stony Cove Brook," on 
the crest of Wilson's Hill, and was used by the society 
during the thirty-nine years of Mr. Wetherell's ministry. 
His parsonage stood "a few rods southeast of the church," 
and was either built or purchased by him, as it was 
never owned by the society. 

Belonging to the liberal party, as did the members of 
his church who had called him, his services were widely 
sought to administer the rite of baptism, especially for 
infants. Six hundred and eight baptisms were recorded 
during his ministry. 

In 1680, the year that Mr. Mighill came as assistant 
to Mr. Wetherell, the second meeting-house of the 
society was built on Timothy Foster's land, in the old 
church-yard and burying-ground a few rods east of the 
Union Bridge road. An effort was made at this time to 
unite the two societies and build a meeting-house near 
the Stockbridge pond, at Greenbush, but the project 
failed, for the southern section "up the river" was being 
rapidly settled. The new location was a half mile above 
the old one, and very conveniently situated. 

No provision was made by the society for a par- 
sonage for Mr. Mighill until 1684, when a house was 
either purchased or built for his accommodation on the 
location of the house of the late Mrs. Maria Gaffield. 
(See "Eighteenth Century Houses.") 



SECOND CHURCH 171 

Mr. Mighill died in 1689, and for several months in 
1690-91, Mr. John Cotton, of Plymouth, preached to the 
society. He was the son of Rev. John Cotton of the 
Plymouth church, and grandson of the famous John 
Cotton of the First Church of Boston. 

Mr. Deodate Lawson was ordained in 1694. In 1698, 
the society complained to the elders of the neighboring 
churches "of his long and continued absence," and were 
advised by them to procure another minister. The only 
light on this unfortunate situation is found in the reply 
made by the elders of the churches to whom the letter 
was addressed. In this reply we find: 

"We do offer our opinion on their case as followeth, viz., that a 
Pastor, without express consent of his people, desisting oi the duty 
of his charge and function, merely for secular advantages, and taking 
no heed to the ministry which he hath received of the Lord to fulfill 
it, nor to the flocke over which the Holy Ghost hath made him 
overseer, to feed the flocke of God, &c, for two years together delay- 
ing his return, notwithstanding many faire advantages offered him 
for the same, and signifying unto his people neither any justifiable 
reasons of his absence, nor any resolved intention of speedy return, 
is faulty before God: and his people are not to blame if they use all 
Evangelical endeavors to settle themselves with another Pastor, 
more spiritually and more fixedly disposed." 

By this extract we gather that the absent pastor was 
practising some other profession that was proving more 
lucrative than that of the ministry. No records were 
left the church when he was forced to retire, and it is 
believed that he took them with him when he removed. 

The next settled minister was the Rev. Nathaniel 
Eells, ordained June 4, 1704, six years after the dismissal 
of Mr. Lawson. For three years after his settlement, 
Mr. Eells preached in the meeting-house east of Union 
Bridge road. By this time the society had outgrown the 
house built in 1680, and in June, 1707, the third meeting- 
house was raised on what was known for many years as 
"Meeting-house Hill," now only a sand pit, a few rods 
south of the present church and directly south ot the 
"tomb yard." 

This house was used during the pastorates of Mr. 
Eells, Mr. Dorby, and a part of that of Dr. Barnes. 



172 CHURCH HISTORY 

Mr. Eells preached to the society until his death, in 1750, 
at the age of seventy-two years. His forty-six years of 
service were singularly successful and happy, and from 
a small society his congregations had increased so largely 
that a larger house was needed as early as 1739. 

In 1751, thesociety ordained the Rev. Jonathan Dorby, 
who died three years later. Mr. Dorby was a nephew of 
Judge John Gushing, 2d, the father of the Chief Justice, 
and while in Scituate resided in his uncle's family at 
Walnut Tree Hill. 

Rev. David Barnes was given a unanimous call to the 
parish in August of the same year, and was ordained on 
November 27, 1754. Dr. Barnes' pastorate contin- 
ued for fifty-seven years, and on his retirement from 
active ministry, in 1809, the Rev. Samuel Deane was 
ordained as his colleague, February 14, 1810. 

The period of Dr. Barnes' pastorate was one of consid- 
erable prosperity until the troubles that resulted in the 
Revolutionary War became acute enough to be felt 
financially in the little country town. Few Loyalists 
resided within its limits, and the few suspects soon proved 
their loyalty or neutrality. During the Revolution, 
his salary, paid in the depreciated currency of the period, 
amounted to little, and had it not been for the property 
belonging to his wife, financial difficulties would have 
been greater. These difficulties were borne in common 
with the rest of the community. It was a time of priva- 
tion for all. 

As a liberal Christian, Dr. Barnes seems to have been 
much in advance of his day. He was considered an 
agreeable preacher at all times, but in middle life had 
developed a marked popularity throughout the section 
where he was known. 

Rev. Samuel Deane, at the age of twenty-six, became 
the pastor of the South Parish at the high tide of its pros- 
perity. The congregations were large, and no controversy 
had troubled his people such as was taking place in many 
places. These were the days of church dissensions 



SFXOND CHURCH 173 

between the liberal and conservative elements; the days 
that marked the division between the Trinitarians and 
the Unitarians. In this connection, a contemporary has 
said: "Mr. Deane never embroiled his people in quarrels 
not their own and they were kept apart from the con- 
troversy that was dividing many churches." 

Mr. Deane belonged to the liberal wing, as did nearly 
all the ministers of the first churches of the Old Colony. 
Mr. Deane's influence upon the church anci community 
was very strong. His popularity was great in his church 
and with all who came in contact with him. He was a 
man of poetic sentiment, and unusually learned in the 
natural sciences. Few of his writings have been pub- 
lished, but his "History of Scituate," published in 1831, 
is widely known. 

The years of Dr. Barnes' and Mr. Deane's pastorates, 
from 1754 to 1834, a period of eighty years, may be 
called the years of greatest growth. When the present 
edifice was completed, in 1830, every pew was taken 
and well filled. 

Mr. Deane lived only three and a half years after the 
dedication of the new church, and the society was without 
a pastor for more than two years. 

In October, 1836, began the pastorate of a most 
remarkable man, that of Samuel Joseph May, at that 
date Agent of the Massachusetts x^nti-Slavery Society. 
Throughout his whole life he was the reformer as well as 
the pastor. No wrong was too trivial or too great to be 
rectified with all the force of his character. Before set- 
tling in the ministry, a visit to the South had made him 
determine that the abolition of slavery must come, and 
he then declared that he would take a decided hand in it. 
So it was with the Temperance question. 

The American Total Abstinence Society was formed 
at this time, and into this cause Mr. May threw his whole 
heart and the influence of his eloquent tongue. In 
Scituate, he found a wide field of labor for the lines in 
which he had become interested, — the improvement of 



174 CHURCH HISTORY 

the common schools, Total x'\bstinence, Universal Peace, 
and the Anti-Slavery cause. 

Soon after coming to South Scituate, Mr. May gath- 
ered the young people of his society in the pews of the 
gallery of the church and organized the first Sunday- 
school, with a membership in the beginning of about 
twenty-five members. He instituted the "Cold Water 
Army," composed of children from all parts of the 
undivided town of Scituate, nearly five hundred in 
number. They marched through the streets with 
Mr. May at their head, with music, and banners flying, 
and presented quite an imposing appearance. They had 
picnics in the groves and fields, many of them given the 
names of famous battlefields of history. The large field 
near his home was christened the "Field of Waterloo." 
xAt least two of the banners of the army have been 
preserved as interesting relics. 

After a six years' pastorate, said by him to have been 
six of the happiest years of his life, Horace Mann per- 
suaded him to undertake the principalship of the Lexing- 
ton Normal School, and he removed from South Scituate 
in the fall of 1842. Occasional visits were made to his 
old parish here; the last one, during the summer of 1867, 
was shortly before his death. 

The parish was without a settled pastor until the 
following spring, when a call was extended to William 
Oxnard Moseley, of Newburyport, who remained four 
years. 

The next minister of the church was the Rev. 
Caleb Stetson, a man of mature years and experience, 
who had been twenty-one years the pastor of the Unita- 
rian Church at Medford, Mass. Like his friend, Samuel 
J. May, he was devoted to the Anti-Slavery cause, and 
was one of the early advocates and prime movers for 
Total Abstinence. 

Mr. Stetson was a descendant of Cornet Robert 
Stetson, of Scituate, and was pastor of the church of his 
ancestor from 1848 to 1858. The question is often 



SECOND CHURCH 175 

asked, how a church in so small a community could draw 
to its pulpit men of such intellectual ability as Mr. May 
and Mr. Stetson. The answer is that they were reformers, 
and at this period (the Anti-Slavery days) such men 
were not welcomed in most places. 

In September, 1859, a call was extended to the 
Rev. William A. Fuller, who was installed in November of 
that year, and remained until the autumn of 1864. He 
was much interested in the Sunday-school, and visited 
each home in his search for children to be enrolled, and 
was able to gather one hundred and twenty-five members. 
The first special observance of Christmas in the church 
was arranged by him, and the service, which was an in- 
novation in this section, drew a large audience. 

Mr. May had always kept in close touch with his 
former parish, and was aware that they were seeking for 
an acceptable candidate to succeed Mr. Fuller. Some 
time during the winter of 1864, he urged the Rev. 
William H. Fish, who for some years had been an agent 
of the American Unitarian x'\ssociation Missionary 
Society in Central New York, to go to South Scituate 
as a candidate. This he did during the summer of 1865, 
and a call was extended him which he accepted, and 
he began in November his twenty-year pastorate. 

Mr. Fish began his labors as a Unitarian in New York 
State. There he had taken an active part in the Anti- 
Slavery struggle. Both there and at South Scituate he 
was devoted to Universal Peace, Anti-Slavery, Temper- 
ance, and Equal Rights. The James Library is the 
greatest monument to his twenty-year service. It was 
founded by Josiah Leavitt James, of Chicago, in 1871, 
but its fulfillment was made possible by Mr. Fish's 
untiring effort. 

The changing conditions of modern life were ending 
the long pastorates in country churches with the passing 
of the ministers of Mr. Fish's generation. Eight short 
pastorates, extending over a period of thirty-four years, 
bring the history of the church up to date. 



176 CHURCH HISTORY 

This church, founded in 1642, has for the two hundred 
and seventy-nine years of its lite been the Community 
Church, ministering to people of all denominations. 
Until 1730 it was the only church in that part of Old 
Scituate now known as Norwell, and it has been the only 
church in its immediate community since its organization. 
Its broad and liberal Covenant of 1642 remains un- 
changed, and is the one subscribed to at the present day. 
It ends with this phrase, significant of the thoughts of its 
framers, and applicable to conditions that have since 
existed: "We shall not refuse into our society such of 
God's people, whose hearts God shall incline to joyne 
themselves unto us, for the good of their souls." And 
now, "in the freedom of the truth, and the spirit of 
Jesus Christ," they still "unite for the worship of God, 
and the service of man." 

St. Andrew's Church 

A SERVICE of the Church of England was con- 
ducted in the meeting-house of the First Society, on 
Meeting-house Lane, on Wednesday, July 28, 1725. This 
service marked the beginning of Episcopacy in Scituate. 

Rev. Timothy Cutler, rector of Christ Church (Old 
North Church, Salem Street, Boston), one of the ablest 
preachers and most influential clergymen of the colony, 
is said to have come to Scituate "on the invitation of 
Lieut. Damon and another gentleman of large estate," 
who acted as spokesmen for a respectable number of 
influential people. 

It does not seem probable that Dr. Cutler would have 
come to Scituate unless there had been a reasonably 
strong desire for such a service from a respectable 
number of citizens of that place. That this number was 
both large and influential is quite evident; to be sure, 
they were gathered from a considerable territory, com- 
prising not only difi^erent parts of Scituate, but of 
Marshfield, Pembroke, and Hanover. 



ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH 177 

It seems a little singular that the name of Lieut. 
Zachary Damon should have been the only one handed 
down to posterity as the chief mover of this action. Mr. 
Daniel E. Damon, in the "History of Plymouth County," 
says, in regard to Lieut. Damon's connection with it; 
"This may be true, but that Lieut. Damon, then seventy- 
three years of age, should actively interest himself in 
having services which he did not believe in, performed in 
that house, seems hardly credible." Lieut. Damon 
belonged to and attended the First Church, although at 
the time he is said to have been not wholly in sympathy 
with the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Bourne. The other name 
connected with Damon's doubtless was Benjamin 
Stockbridge, as this family was the only wealthy and 
influential one of the First Parish known to have become 
early members of St. Andrew's. His son, Dr. Benjamin, 
was later a vestryman of the parish for twenty-nine 
years previous to his death, and was annually chosen to 
represent the church at the convention. 

Although Dr. Cutler's weekday service was conducted 
in a quiet and inoffensive manner, it is not remarkable 
that the members of the First Church should have con- 
sidered that advantage had been taken of the absence 
of their young pastor, and that their meeting-house, 
although owned by the parish and not the church, had 
been put to unwarranted use. Religious controversy 
was their chief mental stimulus in those early days; 
besides, their church had earlier been divided by con- 
tention, whereby they had lost the spiritual and material 
support of a large part of their members, and the 
prospect of another thinning of their ranks through the 
establishment of a church of another faith was not an 
agreeable one. 

For these reasons, they were anxious to minimize the 
importance and size of the audience present at the first 
service, which was said to have numbered between 
seventy and eighty, and to show that the members of 
their own church were conspicuous by their absence; 



178 CHURCH HISTORY 

therefore, they declared it to consist of only three men 
of Scituate, a number of dissatisfied members of other 
churches of adjoining towns, and about forty schoolboys. 
If any women were present at the service, they were of 
no consequence, as they had nothing to do with the 
government of churches at that period. 

Although scoffed at by the people of the parish, 
Dr. Cutler was sufficiently impressed by this gathering 
to consider this a good chance of establishing a church 
of the Episcopal faith. 

In view of the religious intolerance of the times in 
respect to denominational differences, it is not singular 
that the feeling in the First Parish was both intense and 
bitter. For a time the controversy between the two 
factions ran high, each side utilizing the newspapers of 
the day to set forth their respective positions. 

No other service of the Church of England seems to 
have been held in Scituate for two or three years. In 
1727, Rev. Ebenezer Miller began his ministry over a 
church in Old Braintree, now Christ Church, Quincy. 
He conducted services at times for the people ot Scituate, 
in a private house, to an audience as large as the house 
could hold, in this way keeping the people ot the faith 
together. 

In 1721, a church was erected, with a seating capacity 
of one hundred and fifty, by Ebenezer Stetson, probably 
at his own expense and upon Stetson-land, for in 1733 
it was deeded to the society by Ebenezer Stetson and 
his wife, Lydia (Barker) Stetson. Its location was on the 
summit of what has come to be known as "Church Hill," 
that prior to that date seems to have been used as a 
burial place by the Stetson family, and was probably 
owned wholly or in part by that family, although lands 
to the south of the hill had, in 1699, been laid out by the 
town as "Common Lands." In 1725, ten acres were added 
to this common, "for burial purposes and a training field." 

The location was a convenient one for the churchmen 
of several surrounding towns, and served them until 1745, 



ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH 179 

when a smaller mission church was built in Marshfield. 
Somewhat later, this mission built another church in 
Marshfield Hills Village, then known as Pine Tree Hill, 
on the site of the present G. A. R. Hall. The building 
on Church Hill was of wood, in the style of the Episcopal 
churches of the day, with a bell-tower and a bell. 

November 30, 1731, Dr. Miller again officiated, and 
then expressed his willingness to serve them, as far as he 
was able, in connection with his duties in Braintree, 
should the society not think it best to send a missionary 
to Scituate. 

Having petitioned the "Honorable Society" to send 
them, as missionary the Rev. Addington Davenport, 
their petition was granted. He thus became the first 
resident minister of the parish, with a salary of £60 a 
year. His record under the date of November 10, 1735, 
says that the first two Sundays services were largely 
attended, but at the first Holy Communion there were 
only three recipients. 

The establishment ot a church of a different faith 
caused much uneasiness in both the First and Second 
societies. Taxes for the support of the church were 
levied on all taxpayers of the town, whatever their 
religious belief, and a refusal to pay those taxes meant a 
considerable fine, or a term in the county jail, so that 
having to contribute to the support of two churches was 
a heavy burden to the members of the new society, and 
must have retarded its growth. On the part of the older 
societies, the prospect of losing the support of those 
allying themselves with the newer one meant heavier 
taxes for those remaining. This complicated the situation 
and delayed the completion of the church. In 1741, the 
Second Parish began to remit the charges due from the 
members of St. Andrew's. 

Violent opposition to the establishment of a Church 
of England was made by the people of the surrounding 
towns, and especially in Scituate, where the church was 
located. 



180 CHURCH HISTORY 

Mr. Davenport entered into no public controversy 
with people about him, and remained the rector of 
St. Andrew's until 1737. His congregations in Scituate 
numbered about seventy or eighty, mostly from Scituate 
and Hanover. The communicants were twenty-eight. 

His rectory was located near the apex of the land at 
the junction of River and Common Streets, north of 
Church Hill. The dwelling house was blown down in a 
violent gale soon after 1800, and no trace of its cellar 
is now to be seen, although the ancient well can be found. 

At the time of his removal, he conveyed this estate to 
the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts," for the use forever of the ministers of St. An- 
drew's. In 1817, five acres and three rods of land were 
sold to Benjamin Palmer for $302.05, and the remaining 
one acre and seventeen rods to Elisha Tolman for 
$161.52, it being situated opposite the latter's residence. 
The proceeds of these sales were added to a fund estab- 
lished two years earlier for the Support of Religious 
Worship in the Episcopal Society of St. Andrew's, in 
Hanover. The date of Mr. Davenport's removal, and 
that of the beginning of his successor's ministry, is not 
definitely known, but is supposed to have been in 1737. 

The Rev. Charles Brockwell was the second resident 
minister. His ministry was of short duration. In 1771, 
during Mr. Thompson's ministry, an addition was made 
to the east end of the church. 

At the time of his death, in 1775, he was in his sixty- 
fourth year, and had not been in the best of health tor 
some time; but his death was hastened, all accounts agree, 
by some "uncivil treatment " experienced at the hands 
of the Patriots. It is said that they entered his house, 
and seized and destroyed his library, together with the 
records of the church since its foundation, in 1730. 

In 1774, the Committee of Safety and Inspection, 
chosen by the town, had under surveillance a considerable 
list of townspeople whose loyalty was suspected. On 
this list were the names of members of St. Andrew's, — 



ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH 181 

Benjamin James, Ebenezer Stetson, William Haskins, 
John Stetson, Benjamin Stockbridge, Charles Stock- 
bridge, Charles Curtis, and Samuel Stetson. All cleared 
themselves, declaring their loyalty to the Patriots' 
cause, except Charles Curtis, who left town and became 
a British officer in New York. 

Realizing, after his own unhappy experience, that the 
position of rector of St. Andrew's would be such that few 
would care to assume its responsibilities during these 
troublous times, Mr. Thompson, upon his death-bed, 
expressed his desire that Rev. Edward Winslow, ot 
Braintree, serve the church as frequently as he could, 
until a successor should be chosen, and it was arranged 
in accordance with his wish. 

The following June, 1776, a service was held before a 
large congregation from the united churches of Scituate 
and Marshfield, hoping by union to hold the societies 
together. News of the holding of this service reached 
the Committee of Safety, and that same evening Mr. 
Winslow was cited to appear before it, to answer to the 
charge of sowing discord and dissention. In company 
with one of the wardens of St. Andrew's, he went before 
this committee, consisting of some ten or twelve persons, 
a local minister (probably the Rev. Dr. Barnes, a noted 
pacifist in ecclesiastical matters), and the local magistrate. 
This magistrate repeated some verses from the Book of 
Common Prayer," in which the prayers for His Majesty 
and the Royal Family were offered, stating all they had 
against Mr. Winslow was the public usage of these 
seditious utterances on the preceding day, and asking 
him if he were sincere in so doing. Receiving an affirma- 
tive answer, the magistrate informed him that such 
usage was considered inimical to this country, and that 
holding a service here at this time only caused more 
discord, by keeping alive the resentment and ciivision of 
opinion already promoted. The Committee of Safety 
finding him not inclined to submit to their directions, and 
as Mr. Winslow belonged to another town, they referred 



182 CHURCH HISTORY 

the matter to the Committee of Safety of Braintree. 
This committee resolved and presented the name of 
Mr. Winslow to the General Court as that of a "con- 
tumacious fomenter of alienation from the United 
Colonies." The final action is not known. 

It is believed that the records were seized and destroyed 
in that visit to the house of Rev. Mr. Thompson by the 
Town Committee of Safety, so that all the records of 
St. Andrew's to be found today begin in August, 1780. 

The Rev. Samuel Parker, D. D., served St. Andrew's 
from 1780 to about 1783. As his successor, the Rev. Mr. 
William Willard Wheeler was chosen rector of the 
churches of Scituate and Marshfield, May 5, 1783. 
Four years after coming to Scituate he married Jane, 
daughter of the Rev. Mr. Thompson, and resided in the 
"rectory under the hill," with Mr. Thompson's widow. 
His ministry lasted about twenty-six years. 

Following Mr. Wheeler's death, the society of St. 
Andrew's voted to erect a new church in Hanover, in the 
Four Corners Village, and on June 11, 1811, the present 
church was consecrated by Bishop Griswold, and services 
in the old church were discontinued. The old building 
was sold and taken down. The society had no rectory of 
its own until 1840, when the present one was built. 

A Bible printed in England in 1723, together with the 
carved wooden box in which it was sent, is in the posses- 
sion of the society, but the "Book of Common Prayer" 
that accompanied it was that confiscated by the Com- 
mittee of Safety in 1776, and never returned. 

The subsequent history of St. Andrew's belongs to the 
town of Hanover, and is to be found in Dwelley's 
"History of Hanover." 

The Universalist Church, Assinippi 

UNWILLING to contribute to the support of two 
churches, and believing in the new doctrine of 
universal salvation, the people began a movement 



UNIVERSALIST CHURCH 183 

in Scituate, in 1756, to form a Universalist Society. The 
first petition was made by the inhabitants of the north- 
erly part of Hanover to be set off as a new parish. This 
part of Hanover had been carved out of the old territory 
of Scituate in 1732. The petitioners were refused the 
prayer of their petition; but in the following year they 
took the matter before the Legislature. Again they were 
unsuccessful. They failed once more, in 1771, but later 
they began upon a new church building which was 
completed by, if not before, 1792, for in that year the 
town of Hanover voted to permit Mr. Mellen to preach 
a few Sundays in this new church. This vote contains 
more or less sarcasm, for Mr. Mellen was an Orthodox 
minister. These people were, however, sviccessful in 
1812, when the Legislature incorporated them as a 
L^niversalist Society. 

Thus, if not the first church of this faith, it was one of 
the first churches to be established in this county. It 
has numbered among its members residents of Scituate, 
Norwell, Hanover, Hingham, Duxbury, Plymouth, 
Halifax, Hanson, and other towns. The new parish was 
a Poll Parish. The corporators and their estates were 
taxed for church purposes in the new parish so long as 
they annually employed a minister. All other members 
of the parish were taxed in the old parish, as before. In 
order to escape taxes in the old parish, the new member 
must be formally admitted to the new parish, receiving a 
certificate of membership. When that certificate was 
filed with the clerk of the old parish, the holder of the 
certificate was released from taxation in the old parish. 

This society may well claim to be the parent of most of 
the Universalist churches in neighboring towns. The per- 
sistency of the New England blood is shown by the fact 
that from two to five generations of the descendants of the 
original incorporators still continue to attend this church. 

The only known picture of the first church building is 
that in Barry's "History of Hanover." The drawing 
from which this was made was from descriptions only of 



184 CHURCH HISTORY 

the old building. It was a barn-like structure without 
steeple or bell, unplastered, with no paint, inside or out, 
without a stove, and with no organ or other musical 
instrument. Its double rows of windows were without 
either blinds or shades, and no colored glass aided to 
keep out the rays of sunshine. The roof pitched east and 
west, and in front a two-story porch extended from the 
ground to the eaves, with doors in front anci on each 
sicie. There were doors also on the north and south. 
A gallery ran around three sides of the interior, which 
for seats was provided with benches only. The pulpit, 
on the west side, was built high aloft, and opposite it 
was the choir gallery. It had no cellar, and its founda- 
tion was of stones taken from the near-by hillsides. Its 
timbers were hewn from the neighboring woods or sawed 
in the Jacobs Mill. Every nail and spike in its con- 
struction was forged by hand. All the ornamental work, 
the doors and the window sashes, were made on the spot 
by neighborhood carpenters. The glass in the windows 
was the only part of the structure which could not be 
contributed by some member of the parish from his own 
farm or workshop. 

In 1832, the second church of this society was erected 
upon the site of the old one. Its architecture was 
colonial, and, the worshipers were accustomed to believe, 
unusually beautiful. In the spire the first bell owned by 
the church was hung, and for more than sixty years it 
called the people to worship, pealing patriotically on the 
Fourth of July, alarming the countryside when con- 
flagration threatened, and in sweet solemnity tolling the 
requiem for the dead. The builciing faced the east, and 
before its destruction by fire, in 1893, a church clock 
had been placed in its spire. 

As it was originally built, one entered by three front 
doors an entry-way reaching across the entire structure. 
From the middle of the ceiling of this entry hung the 
big bell rope. On either side opened the doors into the 
body of the church. There was no center aisle, but the 



UNIVERSALIST CHURCH 185 

side aisles led between pews unpainted and mahogany 
capped, to a massive mahogany pulpit rounded and 
polished standing on a platform as high as the pews. 
The uniformity of the wall in the rear of the pulpit was 
broken by a large crimson curtain hung and draped 
from a rounded top. From the center of the ceiling hung 
by a large chain a chandelier, in which was a shining 
brass hemisphere supporting glass arms twisted and 
shaped like a recumbent S. The "singing seats" filled 
the rear of the church, perched high in the gallery, and a 
small organ accompanied the singing. 

During the sixties the interior was remodeled. The 
pulpit was lowered and became a reading desk. The 
drapery behind it was removed and frescoing substituted. 
The galleries were lowered and a church organ was 
installed. The whole interior was frescoed and the 
pews were painted. The chandelier was taken away, 
and so were the pew doors. 

June 21, 1893, during the progress of still further 
repairs, the edifice was burned. 

In the early days to which this record is principally 
devoted, the clergym.en officiating here were men of 
strong characteristics. John Murray and Hosea Ballou 
have occupied the pulpit. Dr. A. JK. Miner, for many 
years the leader of Universalism, has preached here. 

Mrs. Hannaford and Mary A. Livermore have spoken 
from this pulpit, and in more recent years. Prof. Shipman 
and Dr. Emerson have officiated at its desk. John S. 
Barry, the historian of Hanover and Massachusetts, 
was also its pastor. 

The Rev. Robert L. Killam, known for many years as 
"Father"Killam, was a beloved pastor. He preached the 
last sermon in the old church and the dedicatory dis- 
course in the new. On this occasion the Rev. Hosea 
Ballou was the speaker of the afternoon. 

After the fire, in 1 893, the society showed its recuperative 
power by dedicating its new church (the present one) in 
a year almost to a day from the burning of the old one. 



CHURCH HISTORY 




^k ^^*^ 



First Meeting-house on Brook Street 



The Methodist Episcopal Church 

METHODIST Church work in the United States 
was organized in one great circuit, soon after the 
War of the Revolution, by Francis Asbury, who 
regularly traveled the circuit over and over for thirty 
years. 

The early Methodists believed that a change of 
preachers at definite intervals was good for both preacher 
and people, affording each society an opportunity to be 
served by the ablest and most gifted of men in turn. 



METHODIST CHURCH, SCITUATE HARBOR 187 

At first no preacher was allowed more than two 
years in one place; afterwards the time was extended to 
three years; while at present the relation between pastor 
and people may be continued for whatever period is 
mutually desired. 

About 1807, an itinerary circuit was formed embracing 
the towns between Dorchester and Duxbury. For years 
there was not a church building in this forty-mile 
circuit. Meetings were held in schoolhouses, barns, or 
in the homes of the members, and it was counted a 
privilege to entertain the preacher on his circuit. 

F. H. Morgan says: "The typical circuit rider was a 
tall man, full of brawn and muscle, tough as a pine-knot, 
clothed in long, black clerical garb, with conventional 
white tie; riding horseback with saddlebags, his home 
wherever night overtook him, his audience room some 
backwoodsman's hut, a convenient barn, or the open 
air." Roads were few, and travelers from Boston to 
Duxbury followed the shore and crossed North River 
at White's Ferry. 

The first Methodist meetings known to have been 
held in Scituate were conducted in a barn on Willow 
Street belonging to one John Bates, who was perhaps 
the most prominent Methodist ot that time. 

It must have had rude seats and fittings, for it was 
used as a place of worship for a number of years. Services 
were held every Sunday; if no ordained preacher was 
available, some local preacher or lay-brother read the 
Scriptures, exhorted, and prayed, whenever "two or 
three were gathered together." 

John Bates was affectionately called "Father" Bates 
by everyone. It was customary then to call each other 
"brother" and "sister;" the older ones, as a mark of 
respect, being called "uncle" and "aunt." John Bates 
was a son of the keeper of Scituate Light in 1812; he 
had a large family who for years helped sustain the 
church their father loved. Rebecca and Abigail were 
his sisters. 



188 CHURCH HISTORY 

In 1819, the New England Conference contained one 
hundred churches. "Father" Taylor, called the "Sailor 
Preacher," was a member of this conference, and for 
years took his turn on the circuit, being at Scituate in 1819. 
Deane's "History of Scituate" says: "In 1 825 a Methodist 
Society was organized and they were legally exempted 
from the ministerial taxes of the First Congregational 
Society." 

The first Methodist church was built in 1826, on 
Brook Street, on the site now owneci and occupied by 
Mrs. Seth Litchfield. It was a building about sixty feet 
long by forty-five feet wide, with three windows on each 
side, a high, raised pulpit at the north end, with a gallery 
for the choir at the south end. It must have looked 
very plain and bare, with its white plastered walls and 
pine wood finish, but the people loveci it and filled its 
pews every Sunday, not only once but three and four 
times. 

There was not much said in those days about the 
women, but there is no doubt they did their share. 
"Aunts Susan and Fanny Windsor" and "Aunt Betty 
Cummings," as well as "Grandma Jenkins," must not be 
forgotten for their devotion to the upbuilding of the 
church. 

The Sunday-school was first organized in 1841, with 
Fred Hammond as superintencient. 

In 1842, a great revival swept the country. The 
Millerites believed that the world would come to an 
end on the third of April, 1843. Though they found 
themselves mistaken, their faith in God was not shaken, 
and many Millerites joined with the Methodists in 1843, 
and worked with interest under the leadership of Rev. 
Stephen Puffer, who was much beloved for his strong 
character and energy. Every church which he served 
during his long life owes him much, as the records prove. 

Rev. Nathaniel Bemis proved to be an enthusiastic 
pastor. During his stay of two years a belfry was added 
to the church and a bell purchased. 



METHODIST CHURCH, SCITUATE HARBOR 1R9 

The society now had a fairly good church edifice, but 
something was still needed. There had been great 
difficulty in finding a place for the preacher's family to 
live. So about this time a company was formed for the 
purpose of building a parsonage. It was built by Philip 
Reynolds, who afterwards removed to Brockton, where 
he engaged in the manv:facture of organs. A small reed 
organ made by him has been in use in the prayer- 
meeting room since 1868. In 1858, Ambrose Jenkins 
died, leaving a legacy to the society of fifteen hundred 
dollars, which enabled them to buy the parsonage 
which has been used ever since. 

Rev. William Leonard, an Englishman, came in 1858. 
The church must have been in good working spirit and 
the pastor an inspired leacier, for extensive improvements 
were planned and carried out. The church was sawed 
into two parts, one part moved back, and a piece built in 
which gave room for four rows of pews. Pews were then 
owned by individuals, and these new ones, being in the 
most desirable part of the church, were sold for enough 
to pay the whole cost of alteration. The high pulpit had 
been replaced by one that was low and square, with an 
altar rail of white enamel, the pews and woodwork 
being finished in the same way. There were inner doors 
from the vestibule covered with green baize, and inside 
blinds were of the same dark green color. Two stoves 
placed under the gallery, with long pipes running the 
length of the church, heated it comfortably. The work 
was finished just before the New Year. What a trial to 
their faith when on July 4, 1865, this attractive church 
was burned to the ground ! It was a total loss, as it was 
not insured. 

The society bought Union Hall at this time for a place 
of worship. While they were considering ways and 
means, they heard of a church in Nantucket to be sold; 
Michael Welch and Philip Reynolds were appointed a 
committee to go there and ascertain if it would be 
feasible to buy it, take it down, and ship it to Scituate. 



190 CHURCH HISTORY 

They reported on their return that it would not pay, and 
the project was abandoned. Widow Gorham, a loyal 
Methodist of Nantucket, entertained them while there, 
and expressed much sympathy at their loss. Some years 
later, she left a bequest of one thousand dollars to the 
society at Scituate, which proved that her sympathy 
was genuine. 

In April, 1866, a meeting was held in Union Hall by 
the trustees in regard to building a new church. In 
December, 1866, it was voted to buy the Gushing Vinal 
lot on Central Street for two hundred and twenty-five 
dollars, and E. Parker Welch was appointed to sell the 
lot on Brook Street. Meanwhile the "very good bell," 
which Rev. Nathaniel Bemis had put into the church 
belfry, had lain on the ground in pieces since the fire. 
The fragments were gathered up by Franklin Damon, 
and kept temporarily in a shed loft. Later they were 
taken to Boston to be sold, and because of the amount 
of silver in the metal it was sold for three hundred and 
fifty dollars, and the unexpected sum was added to the 
building-fund. The new church was dedicated in 1868, 
and in 1869 all debts were paid. 

Beautiful for situation, the church overlooked the 
village. It had a seating capacity of about two hundred 
and twenty-five. The choir for many years sang in the 
tower end of the church, but this was later curtained off 
from the auditorium and formed a convenient room for 
small meetings of various kinds. When the church was 
finished, E. Parker Welch bought Union Hall, and 
making some alterations and improvements, let it to the 
Sons of Temperance and other organizations. A gift of 
five hundred dollars from Capt. William Vinal, a whaler 
of New Bedford, and a native of Scituate, made it 
possible for the society to buy it back again, as there 
being no vestry in the church, the hall was much needed 
for suppers and socials. This was the upper part only, 
the lower part and the land being the property of the 
town of Scituate. 



METHODIST CHURCH, SCITUATF. HARBOR 191 

The pastorate of G. W. Ballou was marked by a 
revival which added numbers to the church. There was 
also special interest in religion under Rev. G. W. Wright. 

In 1873, during Rev. Charles S. Nutter's pastorate, 
the bell and clock were bought. The clock was purchased 
by the help of the townspeople, and was always kept in 
repair by contributions from the public. 

Rev. Henry B. Hibben, a retired chaplain of the United 
States Army, was stationed here for three years. He was 
a brilliant man, but broken in health. His private income 
made him indifferent to the matter of salary, but the use 
of the furnished parsonage and varying sums of money 
were given him each year. 

In 1880, the church was without a pastor, and as the 
membership had been much depleted by removals and 
deaths, the way did not seem clear to call a preacher 
from the Conference, so a student from Boston University 
filled the pulpit. 

The church was at a low ebb financially in 1890; a 
Mr. Richards was appointed by the Conference, but 
failed to appear. In 1893 came the Van Natters, from 
New York; he, scholarly, courtly, and energetic; she, 
friendly and tactful. From this time on there was a 
change. The Ladies' Aid Society again bestirred itself; 
the Sunday-school grew; the people, under new leader- 
ship, took courage; new helpers rose up, and the years 
that were lean seemed remote. 

When R. C. Miller came, in 1896, the workers were 
much in need of encouragement; he hastened to grasp 
the situation, and with characteristic vigor and en- 
thusiasm set about improving it. The inside of the 
church was renovated and a pipe organ purchased, the 
money for which had been earned by eight members. 
This project was started by Frances Adelaide Merritt, 
familiarly known as "Bessie," a music teacher, who had 
studied at the New England Conservatory of Music, 
and having greatly longed for an organ in the church 
she loved, interested a handful of women to start a fund 



192 CHURCH HISTORY 

to buy one. They formed a society called the "Organ 
Society;" they worked for thirteen years for this purpose, 
and the organ was bought and installed at the time of the 
renovation. 

Frank R. Baker, a student-pastor, organized the 
Epworth League, which was for many years a very 
important auxiliary of the church. In 1898 came 
Joseph Cooper, an Englishman, sent by the Conference. 
In the severe storm of that year the church property 
was somewhat damaged. 

The first record of the "Ladies' Union," so called, is 
the record book of the secretary, Miss Mary S. Bouve, 
who held that office for seven years. An unusual service 
which demands mention was that of Miss Bouve, who 
"blowed" the organ from the time it was installed for 
twenty years as a free-will offering. Not in words but in 
deeds, she said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such 
as" I have I give unto thee." 

In 1902, the church received a legacy, helping the 
society to make necessary repairs. Memorial windows, 
gifts from individuals, of stained glass were substituted 
at this time. 

The church has always found friends in many who 
were not members, but who were interested enough to 
attend services, and who, feeling that the influence of 
such a church was needed in the community, were 
ready to give financial aid. 

The church was burned in January, 1918; an effort 
to -raise funds to rebuild, launched by the pastor. Rev. 
Harvey E. Dorr, met with a generous response from the 
residents of the town and the summer people, and the 
present building, the result of this endeavor, was dedi- 
cated in 1920. 

Trinitarian Congregational Church 

THE history of the L^nitarian and Trinitarian 
churches having been identical for nearly two 
hundred years, it will be found under the First Parish 



TRINITARIAN CONGREGATIONAL 



193 




Congregational Church 



Church, while this chapter will begin with the separation, 
in 1824-25. 

It was under Rev. Nehemiah Thomas' ministry that 
part of his flock separated from the church and formed 
a new society. This separation caused great dissension, 
and party spirit ran high. Even families were divided. 
One instance was that of Dea. Ward Litchfield — he and 
his wife Betsey were very religious and equally decided 
in their views. When Sunday came, he, with five sons 
and one daughter, went to the new church, but Betsey, 
having seen no reason for changing her religious views, 
took her son Davis and went to the Unitarian church. 

Another story shows that Betsey, who was of the 
Merritt family, had the courage of her convictions on all 
occasions, as it is said that at this time of much discussion 
as to ways and means, her husband. Deacon Ward, 
notified her that there was to be a minister's meeting at 
his house to discuss important subjects, and not wanting 



194 CHURCH HISTORY 

to burden her too much, as he stood a little in fear of 
her, he told her in the morning they were coming, and 
would want something to eat, but that she might prepare 
a light supper. When they went out to supper that 
night, there was the table, spread with twelve candles 
burning, and that was all there was on the table. He 
tried to explain that his wife took it literally, and then 
he laughed, and they all laughed, and the story goes 
that she was behind the buttery door laughing also. 

February 6, 1825, the old church voted "to renew 
and adopt the Old Covenant as the Covenant of this 
Church." Accordingly, the dissenting leaders, with 
their sympathizers, felt constrained to leave the old 
meeting-house in which their fathers had worshiped, 
and provide another place of worship. On November 16, 
1826, the First Trinitarian Congregational Church in 
Scituate was dedicated, and Rev. Paul Jewett was 
installed as its minister, where he remained until 
July 18, 1833. 

A few years after the settlement of Rev. Paul Jewett 
at Scituate, the church found it hard to raise the money 
for his salary, and on July 18, 1833, a council was called 
to dissolve the relations existing between pastor and 
people. From statements made before the council, it 
appears that the most perfect harmony existed between 
the pastor, the church, and the people, and that the only 
reason of their separation at this time was the inability 
to pay his salary. Rev. Luke x'\insworth Spofford was 
installed over the church May 20, 1835, but on account 
of poor health remained only a year. His successor. 
Rev. Phineas Smith, was installed September 2, 1840, and 
served the church one year. The ministry of Rev. 
Daniel Wight, Jr., in Scituate, extended from September 
28, 1842, to April 20, 1858. Mr. Wight and his bride, 
Lucy Flint, found the church at Scituate depressed and 
embarrassed; but in five years all debts had been paid, 
the church was self supporting, and its activities were 
in lively exercise. 



FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 195 

In response to a circular sent out to "Natives and 
Friends oi Scituate," together with the efforts of the 
church people, the factory-like steeple of the meeting- 
house was replaced by the present spire, and its sweet- 
toned bell procured. 

The people of this church were widely scattered, and 
Mr. Wight often held meetings in the distant neighbor- 
hoods. In Beechwood he gave the equivalent of a year's 
pastorate during the sixteen years of his life in Scituate. 
The almost ideal relation between pastor and people 
was ended with mutual regret, on account of the illness 
of his second wife, Mary S. Briggs, whom he married 
October 4, 1855. 

From this time on, the pastorates have been varied 

and mostly of short duration, the church continuing its 

activities and wielding strong influence for good in the 

community. 

Note: Mr. Wight had obtained during his Scituate pastorate the 
bail of the original "Old Oaken Bucket" of Samuel Woodworth, 
which has lately been given to the Scituate Historical Society. 

First Baptist Church, North Scituate 

EARLY in the last century there began to be a 
stir in the churches of the Old Colony, and soon 
those of evangelical faith withdrew from the old churches 
which had become non-evangelical. Occasionally a 
young Baptist minister came from Marshfield and 
preached in Abiel Cudworth's house. 

In 1818, several persons met at Capt. Ezra Vinal's 
house, organized a Baptist Society, and adopted a con- 
stitution. No tax was to be laid on persons or property, 
but each member agreed to subscribe something every 
year for the support of the church. 

In 1821, the society obtained the unfinished chambers 
of Mr. James Cudworth's house at the Center for a place 
of worship. 

In 1825, a church was organized with thirty-two mem- 
bers, and a chapel was built at the Center, which is now 



196 CHURCH HISTORY 

Grand Army Hall. Mr. Zeba Gushing was the builder. 
It was a plain building, with pulpit, pews, and seats for 
the singers. These were back of the pews between the 
two outside doors, raised one step for the men and two 
for the women. 

The leader, Zeba Gushing, gave the keynote, and the 
others sang without any musical instrument, except for 
a short time when Thomas Tilden Bailey, Sr., played a 
small bass viol. 

The church was lighted by oil lamps. A standard with 
two branches was at each end of the pulpit, and a chan- 
delier for eight lamps hung from the center of the room. 

In 1826, Rev. Adoniram Judson, Sr., of Plymouth, was 
invited to supply the pulpit for six months, and died in 
Scituate. His son, Adoniram Judson, Jr., was a mission- 
ary to Burma. In 1830, Rev. Edward Seagrave became 
pastor. Though not a great preacher, he was ready for 
every good word and work. He had printed the iVrticles 
of Faith, Ghurch Govenant, names of constituent 
members, and a brief history, of which one hundred 
copies were printed. 

In 1832, the women formed a missionary and sewing 
circle, which rejoiced in the name of the "Scituate Baptist 
Female Mutual Religious Improvement Association," 
in which money was raised by annual dues for church 
work. There was always a Thursday evening neighbor- 
hood prayer meeting "at early candlelight." 

An epoch in the church came in 1842, the "Great 
Revival." Jacob Knapp, an evangelist, came to Boston, 
and the work of the Holy Spirit was apparent, and 
spread from town to town. Religion became the topic 
of conversation, and many, both young and old, were 
added to the church. 

The first baptism was on Saturday afternoon, April 9, 
when sixteen candidates were baptized by Father 
Gonant, who was then pastor at Hanover. Others 
followed until about seventy were added to the church. 
These baptisms took place on the river below Bound 




The "Two Spires" 

Pencil Sketch by Henry Turner Bailey 



198 CHURCH HISTORY 

Brook, at a place where a tew years earlier vessels were 
built, and hence called "The Landing." It was the 
baptizing place for more than forty years, the houses 
near by being opened for the convenience of the candi- 
dates in dressing. 

With the increase of members in the church came the 
necessity of enlargement. This was done by the addition 
of a vestibule, with a gallery over it for the choir, which 
was lighted by a large window in front, and finished 
with a cupola. 

The day of the re-dedication, Franklin Damon was 
ordained minister. He had taught school in town the 
previous winter and supplied the pulpit, and was thus 
drawn into pastoral work. Later he left, to continue his 
studies, but came again to Scituate for a wife. 

In 1843, Rev. Thomas Conant was called to the charge 
of the church. He was a man filled with the spirit of the 
Master, who went about doing good, "a living epistle 
known and read of all men." His wife was a worthy 
helpmeet. He resigned in 1853, after ten years' service, 
but still remained a resident of Scituate, having bought 
the house next the church at the Center, that had be- 
longed to James S. Briggs, a treasurer of the church for 
thirty-two years. Living on the corner so near the church, 
their house was the home for supplies and candidates. 

In those days of two services and long distances, 
people took their lunch with them, and the Briggs house 
was always open that those who wished might come in 
and quench their thirst from the never-failing well, 
while in the house a cup of tea was ever ready for an 
elderly or feeble person. Besides this Sunday work 
there was the care of the church, and when there was no 
sexton, the daughter, Cynthia Briggs, afterwards Mrs. 
Anthony Gray, often rendered that service. 

In 1859, a group of happy converts came into the 
church while Mr. Tingley was pastor. 

Soon a new problem arose. After more than thirty 
years of service the building needed extensive repairs. 



FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 199 

The membership had increased more in the north part 
of the town, which was an open fiekl for Christian work. 
With earnest prayer it was decided to build there. A 
plot of land was offered by George C. Lee as a donation, 
and in 1866 a committee was appointed to raise funds. 
Rev. William H. Kelton came from Maine at this time, 
and in May, 1868, it was decided to begin building, but to 
go no taster than money was pledged. As the funds 
were soon exhausted, the blank walls stood for a long 
time unfinished. A parsonage was begun at this time, 
however, as there was no place for the minister's family 
to live, anci they were consequently separated. The 
church members again subscribed liberally, and gave of 
time and labor also. The parsonage was built and work 
on the church carried on to the point where the vestries 
were finished. In May, 1869, the first meeting was held 
in the new vestry. Business men interested in the old 
town gave money and the auditorium was finished. 

The church was named the First Baptist Church, 
North Scituate. In the forefront of all the work and 
responsibility was George W'. Bailey, senior deacon and 
church treasurer, a liberal giver and faithful worker. 
Services of dedication were held October 6, 1870. On 
March 12, 1871, Mr. Kelton preached his last sermon, 
and died April 4. 

The church has had a succession of good pastors. 
From the death of Pastor Kelton to the sad and sudden 
death of Pastor Bartlett, in 1911, was a period of forty 
years, during which there were eight pastors. It is 
pleasant to note such kindly relations between pastors 
and people that when Rev. A. D. Spaulciing resigned, he 
did not leave town, but took up the work of printing at 
what he appropriately named Bound Brook Press. 

The fiftieth anniversary came in 1875. At this time 
the pews were free to all, current expenses to be met by 
contributions. A baptistry was built in 1882. In 1886, 
the church organ was bought. 



200 CHURCH HISTORY 

The first and largest legacy ever received by the 
church came from Samuel Stillman Cudworth, of Boston, 
son of Dea. Abiel Cudworth. 

From the beginnhig the women have been helpers in 
every way. They have responded to calls for help from 
the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of Boston, 
and formed a Home Mission Society; the young people 
have organized a Christian Endeavor Society; the Sewing 
Circle still supplies funds for needed improvements. 

Methodist Episcopal Church 
at Church Hill 

IN the old home of Samuel and Mary Stetson, parents 
of the late Rev. William H. Stetson, the Methodist 
Episcopal Church had her genesis. This old home, sup- 
posed to have been built before 1700, is still standing 
on Stetson Road. A brief account of it is found under 
" Seventeenth Century Houses." 

Mrs. Stetson, whose maiden name was Mary Kimball, 
was the "Barbara Heck" of the society. She came from 
the old Bennet Street Church, Boston, and fovmd in 
Capt. Zephaniah Talbot an aggressive Christian. By 
their untiring labor and constant zeal the first class was 
organized. Prominent among those who labored in this 
class were John Gardner, Lydia Stetson, and Katie and 
Patty Sylvester, the latter, two respected members of 
the African race. 

The next place of worship was the schoolhouse on the 
"Common " north of Church Hill, to which the first 
itinerant preacher came. The class was joined in turn 
to churches in Scituate and South Abington (Whitman) 
many times. 

Union Hall, a larger building, standing beside the 
schoolhouse on the "Common," was the next place of 
worship. From 1844 to 1852, the class grew strong 
enough to erect the present church edifice. The ground 
was broken that year by the Rev. L. B. Bates, of the 



METHODIST CHURCH, CHURCH HILL 



201 




Methodist Church 



Meridian Street Chapel of Boston. Rev. Nathan P. 
Philbrook's name is that connected with the building and 
dedication of the church. In 1885, a neat and cheerful 
vestry was added to the building by Mrs. Betsey Tolman. 
The growth of the church has been gradual, and from 
the first has been a training-school for young men. 
Since the day L. B. Bates preached the first sermon 



202 



CHURCH HISTORY 



here, many young men have served the church. These 
ministers are scattered over the United States to the 
Pacific Coast, and some are in foreign mission work. 
This society can claim for its own the late Rev. William 
H. Stetson, whose early life was spent in this church, 
and who proved such an efficient worker for God; also 
the late John W. Willett, who was converted here. His 
conversion from infidelity was only less remarkable than 
his long, useful ministry. 

The church has a fund, started many years ago by 
Katie and Patty Sylvester by a donation of ?100, 
which has been increased from time to time. Mrs. Betsey 
B. Tolman was a generous contributor, and gave the 
society its parsonage. 




) M 



"nw/j 



Church of the Nativity 



Roman Catholic Church 

"O EV. JOHN THAYER, convert and missionary, was 
-'-^ as far as known the first Catholic to come to 
Scituate. He was born in Boston in 1755, and died in 



CATHOLIC CHURCH 203 

Limerick, Ireland, in 1815. His family was among the 
early Puritan settlers ot New England. He was educated 
at Yale College, and became a Congregational minister, 
and as such served tiuring the Revolutionary War as 
chaplain of a company of which John Hancock was 
commander. He was converted to the Catholic faith 
in 1783, ordained priest in Paris, 1787, and was the 
first native of New England ordained to the priesthood. 
In 1790, he was put in charge of a newly organized 
Catholic congregation in Boston. He left Boston in 
1799, doing missionary work for a time in Virginia and 
Kentucky, going thence to Ireland in 1803. 

Father Thayer visited Scituate in 1790, during which 
year he was a pastor in Boston. 

Bishop Cheverus, a man of great distinction, first 
Bishop and Archbishop of Boston, who was later made 
Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux, France, visited 
Scituate in 1797. He was only a priest when he visited 
the South Shore. 

In May, 1847, Daniel Ward, with his wife, three sons, 
and three daughters, and his partner. Miles O'Brien, 
with his daughter and niece, came from Boston and 
settled in Scituate. They owned a fishing schooner, and 
were very successful fishermen. For a year both families 
made their home in the Ephraim Young house on 
Highland Street, occupied later by the Misses Lewis. 
The coming of these people meant the beginning ot the 
Catholic religion in Scituate. There was no Catholic 
church in the vicinity, and it meant a drive of miles to 
reach one. For all that, these two families kept the 
faith and practised the religious duties that every good 
Catholic lives up to, in their home. For years, when they 
could, they went to Boston to attend mass and perform 
other pious obligations. 

Parishes were formed in Quincy and Randolph early 
in the fifties, and the few people who were here drove to 
those places on rare occasions for baptisms, marriages, 
and burials. 



204 CHURCH HISTORY 

In cases of serious illness when death seemed probable, 
the priest came from miles away to give the last rites of 
the church to the dying. Miles O'Brien was the first 
Catholic prepared for death in Scituate, Father Rodden 
coming from Quincy. He was buried in Quincy, 1851. 

About a year after settling here, Daniel Ward built a 
house on Third Cliff, probably the first house ever built 
there. As time went on relatives and friends of the first 
comers arrived, until at the end of ten years there was 
quite a large Irish colony; then these faithful people got 
together and made plans to have mass celebrated in 
Scituate. 

Meanwhile Daniel Ward had prospered, and in 1857 
built a new house on First Cliff, which was called the 
"Big House," and it was here the same year that mass 
was celebrated for the first time in Scituate, Father Sulli- 
van, of Boston, being celebrant, with Father Gallagher, 
of Boston, assisting. It was an event in the lives of these 
people never to be forgotten. It was a year before they 
had mass again, and during that interval they went to 
the distant towns as before. 

Randolph had become a parish with a church, and many 
of the towns near by were included in the parish. Father 
Roach came from Randolph to Scituate twice during 
the first year of his pastorate, later coming four times 
a year, remaining two days, giving him ample time to 
perform such religious duties as might be necessary. 
This custom was kept up until there was a resident 
pastor in Cohasset. 

Families were large and the mothers were busy with 
the work of the homes. Often three or four men were 
included in the family, and it made much extra work for 
one family to entertain the priest every time he came. 
As a result of this difficulty, others offered their homes 
for the service. The vestments were always kept at the 
"Big House." Soon the congregation had increased to 
such an extent that a house was no longer large enough for 
the service. Miss Mary Clapp, a broad, liberal-minded 



CATHOLIC CHURCH 205 

woman, heard of these difficulties, and as she owned a 
building on Union Street that had once been a school- 
house offered it to the Catholics for a church. The 
offer was gladly accepteci. 

Just before the time set for Father Roach to come, 
some evil-minded person broke all the windows and 
doors, and damaged the interior to such an extent that 
the building was never used for a Catholic church. It 
was later used as a home by Mrs. Shadrack Curtis. 

The first Catholic child born in Scituate was John F. 
Murphy, son of Patrick and Mary (Kane) Murphy, 
born x-^ugust 8, 1852, still living at the corner of Willow 
St;-eet and Jericho Road. He was baptized by Rev. 
Manassas Doherty, of Cambridge, on September 21, 1852. 

Mary Ellen Duffy was baptized in 1857 by Father 
Sullivan, and was the first Catholic child baptized in 
Scituate. 

The first Catholic couple married in town were Patrick 
Driscoll and Mary Gaynor, married by Father Roach, 
August 30, 1858. 

John O'Riley was the first Catholic buried in Scituate. 
He fell from a lumber schooner near the mill gates, 
July 27, 1851, and was drowned. The Sons of 
Temperance, a society here, claimed the body, held a 
burial service, and buried it in Union Cemetery. Up 
to 1868 there was no Catholic cemetery. 

i\rthur Ward bought a field near Ticknor Hill hoping 
the parish would take it for a cemetery, and had his 
father buried there. The people were not in favor of the 
location. Then a Cemetery Association was formed 
consisting of about thirty men, all heads of families; the 
land where the cemetery now is was bought from a Mr. 
Richardson, and paid for by subscriptions from the 
members of this association. Arthur Ward had his 
father's body removed from the field and placed in the 
new cemetery, this being the first Catholic buried there. 

Father Roach continued to come here till 1869, when 
a change was made, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate 



206 CHURCH HISTORY 

becoming part of the Weymouth parish, with Rev. Hugh 
Smyth, the noted church builder, for pastor. It was 
impossible to hold services in a house any longer. Allen's 
Hall, the second floor of Paley Allen's grocery store, was 
hired, and services were held there until the church was 
built. 

Now a Sunday-school was formed. Meanwhile, Father 
Smyth had proposed building a church, which was begun 
in the fall of 1872. The men of the parish dug the cellar 
and laid the stone foundation, gladly giving their services. 

December 25, 1872, a day never to be forgotten by the 
Catholics of Scituate, the first mass was celebrated in the 
basement of the church; it was dedicated and named 
"Church of the Nativity." 

Before work could begin on the church it was necessary 
to have money to work with; subscriptions were asked 
for, the sums given being in many cases out of all pro- 
portion to what these men were earning. 

An event of great importance took place just three 
months after the first mass in the new church. March 
25, 1873, His Grace, Archbishop Williams, came from 
Boston and administered the sacrament of confirmation. 
As Scituate was only a mission, not a parish, it was 
unusual for His Grace to perform this ceremony out of 
the parish church. 

September 28, 1873, Martin Burke and Margaret 
Carroll were married in the vestry by Rev. Peter Leddy, 
curate, the first marriage in the new church. 

Thanksgiving day, November 25, 1874, Edward 
Lynch, of Hingham, builder of the church, and Mary 
Doherty were married with a nuptial mass. They were 
the first couple to be married with this ceremony. 

In 1875, the churches of Hingham, Cohasset, and 
Scituate were made into one parish, with Father Leddy, 
formerly curate, for pastor. Father Leddy died at 
Hingham in 1880, and was succeeded by Rev. Gerald 
Fagan, who came from Hingham every other week, 
remaining until Monday, 



SWF.DEXBORGIAX CHAPEL 207 

The demand tor services every Sunday was so in- 
creased that in 1886 Cohasset was made a separate 
parish, with Scituate as a mission. Rev. M. J. Phelan 
was appointed the first Cohasset pastor. The next year 
he was transferred, and in 1887 Rev. J. P. Egan became 
the pastor of this district. A curate was sent to assist, 
and now, after twenty-two years, there would be mass 
every Sunday and holy day. 

The upper part of the church was still in the rough, 
but under Father Egan the finishing of the church, in an 
artistic manner, was assured, when pews and stations of 
the cross were installed. 

After ten years of work. Father Egan died, July 3, 
1897, justly lamented. 

In the spring of 1903, a summer chapel was built at 
North Scituate beach, and the first mass was celebrated 
July 5, 1903, by the pastor, Rev. William McDonough. 
Owing to the large increase of the summer colony at the 
Sand Hills, the Church of the Nativity became so crowded 
at the masses that an appeal was made to Cardinal 
O'Connell, with the result that Vinton's Hall was hired 
and mass celebrated there in 1913, since which time a 
chapel has been built. 

Swedenborgian Chapel 

A SOCIETY of New Jerusalem, Swedenborgian, was 
started about 1850, but passed out of existence after 
a few years. 

Foremost in the movement were Capt. Seth Webb and 
Elijah Jenkins. Dr. Frank Thomas was an interested 
member, although he never relinquished his pew in the 
historic First Church, of which his father had been 
pastor. 

Miss Mary Clapp, of Greenbush, the last of the family 
to occupy the old Clapp homestead near the "Tan 
Brook," was a strong supporter. She was the owner of 
the old Greenbush schoolhouse, which had been moved 



208 CHURCH HISTORY 

from its old location, very near her home, to one on the 
Harbor road. This building, used by the society for a 
place of worship during its brief existence, is now a part 
of the house of Andrew Curtis. 

John Maddock was "Reader" of the society at one 
time. He later became prominent in the Methodist 
Church. 

Chapel at Sherman's Corner 

THE people at Sherman's Corner were seemingly left 
out in the cold by the division of the town in 1849. 
This had been the Center where the Town House stood, 
which had been used not only for civic meetings but for 
lectures and entertainments. It was then moved about 
two miles, to the new town of South Scituate. The school 
district of this locality was also changed to the new 
center, and the children were obliged to go to the Grove 
Street District in Scituate. 

The nearest church was two miles away, and religious 
services were held for several years in local homes. 

A chapel was built in 1885 through the efforts of Mrs. 
Laura A. Jenkins, Mrs. Henrietta Prentiss, and Miss 
Sophia Sampson, where union services could be held. 
Ministers from Scituate, Marshfield, and other towns 
have generously given of their service. 

Seaside Chapel, North Scituate Beach 

THE Seaside Chapel, at the northeast corner of Collier 
Avenue and Ocean x-^ venue, was built in 1894, from 
plans by Henry T. Bailey. The builder was Billings H. 
Merritt, its seating capacity one hundred and twenty- 
five, and the money to pay for the building was subscribed 
largely by beach residents, while a few non-residents 
generously assisted. Among the latter was the late 
Henry Austen Seaverns, of North Scituate, whose con- 
tribution was very liberal. Visiting ministers usually con- 
ducted the services during the early years of the chapel, 



CHAPEL AT NORTH SCITUATE 209 

after which, for a few summers, the Baptist Church at 
North Scituate was responsible for its management. 

A short period of inactivity followed, and then the 
Episcopal Church took up the work, and for several 
seasons the service has been maintained by them through 
the summer months under the direction of Rev. H. K. 
Bartow, rector of St. Stephen's Church, Cohasset, with 
a student from the Episcopal Theological School at 
Cambridge as resident lay-reader, usually serving two 
summers. 

The chapel property was originally held in trust by 
parties identified with the North Scituate Baptist Church, 
but a few years ago the connection between that organi- 
zation and the chapel ceased, arrangements having been 
made by which the Weber Charities Trust succeeded to 
the ownership of the property. The present trustees 
hold the chapel as a place for Protestant Trinitarian 
worship, preferably of the Episcopal form, but while the 
order of worship is Episcopalian the services are em- 
phatically for all, and are sustained by attendants repre- 
senting various religious denominations. 



Mills 

AFTER the first dwellings had been erected, provision 
was made for a sufficient supply of food for the settle- 
ment. The sea provided fish, the forests game, and the 
Indian planting lands on the four cliffs and the "green 
field," cleared of timber, were ready for corn, therefore 
a mill for grinding it must be ready for the first harvest. 
This first mill was a windmill, built by William Gillson, 
in 1636, upon the southeast end of the Third Cliff, and 
with its sail-like arms rising above the waving corn that 
covered the four cliffs, then many acres larger in extent 
than now, must have been a goodly sight to the dwellers 
along Kent Street, telling them of plenty for the days 
to come, when the long, hard winter was before them. 
This was the first mill for grinding corn erected in 
Plymouth Colony; the only other corn mill was a 
pounding mill, erected in Plymouth in 1632. The 
Gillson windmill was the only grist-mill in Scituate 
until 1650. 

The next necessity was a sawmill, to get out lumber 
for more comfortable frame dwellings, for the first rude 
houses were too primitive to be used long by the "Men 
of Kent," accustomeci as they were, in their English 
homes, to dwellings provided with what comforts and 
conveniences the times allowed. 

Isaac Stedman, afterwards a merchant in the town of 
Boston, came to Scituate about 1637, and settled in 
that part of the town called "the green bush." There 
was little or no natural water-power for milling purposes, 
but there were three large brooks, with ample water 
supply, that could be made to answer the purpose by 
the erection of dams and flooding of the natural basins. 
Stedman did this near his home on the First Herring 
Brook, thereby forming the beautiful pond, later macie 
famous by the poet Woodworth. The sawmill that he 

(210) 



MILLS 



211 




The Stockbridge Mill 



built is mentioned in the records as early as 1640. By 
the erection of these two mills, Scituatfe's development 
was assured. Litchfield says, in speaking of Barnstable, 
in 1640: "Many of these first houses were made of timber 
and lumber brought from the sawmill at Scituate, the 
distance by water being short, and transportation by 
boats easy." Stedman desired to move to Boston, and 
found a purchaser, in 1646, for his Scituate property, in 
George Russell, from Hingham, who was the sole owner 
of the mill for ten years. 

In 1650, John Stockbridge, a dweller on the Conihasset 
lands since 1638, and one of the "Partners" since 1646, 
built a grist-mill beside the Russell sawmill, and probably 
in company with Russell, for fifteen years later, Russell 
sells to John's son, Charles Stockbridge, one half of 
said mill. In 1656, he sold one-half interest in his 
sawmill to John Stockbridge. 

About the same year (1656) the "Stockbridge man- 
sion" house was built nearby on the shores of the pond. 
Strongly built, with portholes for defense against the 
Indians, it became the principal garrison house of the 



212 MILLS 

settlement, and withstood the attack of 1676. Three 
sides were palisaded with logs, the fourth side being 
protected by the pond. This old garrison house was 
burned in 1830, and the present house, owned until 
lately by the Williams family, descendants of the 
Stockbridges, was built by Capt. Henry Bowers, a 
nephew of Madam Hannah Gushing, who had married 
Mary Stockbridge, a daughter of Dr. Charles. Stedman's 
house, later that of George Russell, was burned in 1712, 
and stood on the site of the Samuel Hatch house, now 
owned by Albert W. Garceau. 

John Stockbridge's will, dated at Boston 1657, gave 
to his eldest son, Charles, his water-mill at Scituate, 
with house ground and orchard, together with all his 
working tools. Charles Stockbridge came from Charles- 
town to Scituate in 1662-63, and in 1665 became sole 
owner of both saw and grist mills, from that time until 
after 1830 known as the "Stockbridge Mills." They 
went to the youngest sons, Benjamin and Samuel, in 
the division of Charles Stockbridge's estate. Benjamin 
purchased his brother's interest, and in turn bequeathed 
the property to his son. Dr. Benjamin, from whom it 
descended to his son. Dr. Charles, and to his grandson. 
Dr. Charles, Jr., who died unmarried in 1827. Deane 
mentions them as belonging to the Stockbridge estate 
in 1830. 

The later history of the mills is that of their connection 
with the Clapps, the present owners. Benjamin Clap, a 
great-grandson of Mr. Thomas Clap, who had settled 
in 1640 upon what is now known as the Jenkins farm, 
north of the pond, "run" the Stockbridge mills before 
1800. In 1794, his son Thomas married for his first wife 
Emily Stockbridge, who, family tradition says, was a 
daughter of Dr. Charles, although her birth does not 
appear in the Vital Records. By his second marriage, 
to Mercy Bailey, Thomas Clapp had a family of twelve 
children. With the help of his sons Elijah, Franklin 
Bailey, and Harvey, Thomas Clapp "run" the mills 



MILLS 213 

until 1828. After 1830, Elijah Clapp purchased them 
from the Stockbridge estate, and they have been Clapp 
property for three generations. Charles Stockbridge 
was given a perpetual contract to use the waters of the 
First Herring Brook for milling purposes, on the condition 
that he maintain and operate the grist-mill. To re- 
imburse him, he might reserve for himself no more than 
one-sixteenth of every bushel of grain brought to be 
ground. The present owners took the property subject 
to the same conditions, and notwithstanding the fact 
that no grain has been carried to the mill for some 
years, they, on their part, it is said, stand ready to 
operate it. 

More than two centuries and a half have passed since 
the erection of the mill by the "wide spreading pond," 
but with a little renewal, the old structure can be made 
ready for another century of service. 



In 1653, James Torrey built a "clothing mill" a short 
distance up the same brook. Traces of its dam can yet 
be found, near Robert Haven Schauffler's log cabin. 
Although styled "clothing mill," it was probably a 
"fulling mill," for the dressing and "fulling" of the cloth 
woven by the women in the homes. James Torrey died 
in 1665, and the mill became the property of his son, 
Dea. James, who sold it as early as 1690 to Samuel 
Clap. Around 1750, Capt. John Clap, son of Samuel, 
had a grist and fulling mill on the same location, the 
latter probably the one built by Torrey one hundred 
years before. 

By 1656, the settlement had expanded beyond the 
bounds of the Harbor and its adjacent sections. Many 
settlers had by this time followed Robert Stetson up 
the North River. Back from the river in this section, 
there was much fine timber, white oak, pine, hemlock, 
and cedar, of heavier growth than that nearer the shore. 
Cornet Stetson and others built two mills in this remote 



214 MILLS 

section, one at Nanemackeuitt, and another on the 
Third Herring Brook. For the latter mill they flowed 
a large section known as "Old Pond." The site of this 
mill was a little to the north of the bridge, on Tiffany 
Road (East Street), where it is said traces of the old dam 
were found, near the residence of the late Samuel Tolman, 
the old home of Maj. Nathaniel Winslow, built by John 
Bryant, 3d, about 1700. This mill was burned by the 
Indians in the raid of 1676, and never rebuilt; the dam 
was destroyed, and the lands flowed to form the pond 
were soon after divided amongst the proprietors of the 
town. For an account of the other mill built by the 
Cornet, see article on Cornet Robert Stetson, in this book. 



There was great need of a grist-mill in this section, and 
in 1673 the town offered a premium of "thirty acres of 
land to anyone who, within six months, should erect a 
grist-mill on the Third Herring Brook, and engage to 
tend the mill for fourteen years." Charles Stockbridge, of 
Greenbush, accepted the proposals, then changed his 
mind somewhat, and agreed to accept ten acres only, 
if he be allowed to place his mill on the Cornet's dam. 
The mill was not built, for the following year he decided 
to accept the original offer, and build a grist-mill a half 
mile further down the brook. When Stockbridge died, 
in 1684, both grist and saw mills had been built, and were 
set off to his sons, Charles, Jr., and Thomas. The former 
received one-halt the corn mill, and three-fourths the 
sawmill; the latter one-half the corn mill, and one-tourth 
the sawmill. 

Charles Stockbridge seems to have been the millwright 
par excellence in the colony, for in 1683 the town of 
Plymouth sent for him to rebuild the old Jenny mill on 
Town Brook, which had apparently been improperly 
built or conducted, in as much as Plymouth was "greatly 
damnified" by its condition on that date. 

In 1692, Thomas Stockbridge sold his interest in the 
corn mill to John Bryant, 3d (whose widow was the 



MILLS 215 

second wife ot Cornet Stetson) and Sergeant Samuel 
Stetson, whose son Jonah inherited it, and it became 
known for several generations as "Jonah's mill," his son 
Jonah, Jr., succeeding his father. It was used as a 
grist-mill until after 1850. 

The larger interest in the sawmill remained in the 
Stockbridge family. Charles, Jr.'s, daughter, Remem- 
brance, married Recompense Tiffany, and the mill began 
to be known as the "Tiffany mill," and the pond as 
"Tiffany's pond." The highway once called Mill Street 
has of late years been re-named Tiffany Road. 

Capt. Zephaniah Talbot married Agnes Salmond, a 
granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Baldwin. With his 
brothers-in-law, William and John Salmond, he began 
the manufacture of tacks on or near the site of the 
Tiffany mill. In 1838, their brother Samuel acquired the 
business, and in 1859, the enterprise was carried on under 
the firm name of Samuel Salmond & Son, said son 
being his son-in-law, Edmund Q. Sylvester. Sylvester's 
heirs now continue it under the same name. 



The Curtis mills on the Third Herring Brook were 
built in part as early as 1688, when Benjamin Curtis 
built a sawmill, and later a grist-mill. The latter has 
been in use until within a decade, the only one for miles 
around. They were known at one time as the Clap & 
Curtis mills. Constant Clap having been part owner. 
At the time of the Revolution, they were owned by 
Capt. Calvin Curtis, whose name as an of^cer is often 
found on the Revolutionary Rolls and Town Records of 
Hanover. His son, Capt. Edward, inherited them, and 
they have descended through daughters in the family 
line to the present time, known variously as Jefferson 
Gardner's and Samuel Church's mills. 



John Bryant, Jr., built a sawmill on the Second Herring 
Brook as early as 1690. It was nearer the mouth of the 
brook than the mill owned by Joseph F. Merritt, 



216 MILLS 

supposed to have been built by Hawke Gushing. John 
Bryant, Sr.'s, house stood ten rods east of the present 
mill, where the remains of an old orchard can be seen. 
Soon after building the sawmill, John, Jr., built a grist- 
mill on the brook, nearly in front of his father's house, 
and at a later period is said to have built another on 
or near the site of Torrey's mill. The 'first grist-mill 
built by him was owned by the Sylvesters for two or three 
generations — Elisha, Israel, Thomas, and Thomas, Jr. 

Hawke Gushing was a carpenter and builder. The 
mill that he is said to have built after his purchase of the 
Dea. Thomas Bryant estate, about 1769, was operated 
by his brother, Pickles Gushing, and a generation later 
by Pickles, Jr., and Dea. Thomas, son of Hawke. 

Joseph Merritt, 2d, purchased the mill from Josiah 
Gushing, son of Dea. Thomas, and used it to get out the 
lumber for the last vessel built on North River, the 
Helen M. Foster, named for his second wife. At this 
same period it was turning out large quantities of box 
boards for the local box factories. Merritt sold the 
mill to David W. Turner, who operated it, until his 
death, in connection with his steam mill near by. William 
D. Turner, son of David, sold it a few years ago to Joseph 
Foster Merritt, son of Joseph, its former owner. 



In 1691-92, Mordecai Lincoln built the Lincoln mills 
on Bound Brook — both grist and saw mills. Although 
upon the Gohasset side of the brook, these mills ground 
and sawed their full share of Scituate's products. Lincoln 
owned two other mills on the same brook, one on the 
border of what has lately been called Echo Lake, near the 
Morris icehouse, the other in the Beechwood district. 
In times of drought, Lincoln run the upper mill on 
Mondays and Tuesdays; the middle pond then being 
full, he ground there on Wednesdays and Thursdays; 
while Fridays and Saturdays Lincoln's lower mills 
utilized the waters twice before made use of — a most 
ingenious and practical method of conservation. 



MILLS 217 

In 1720, a wind grist-mill stood a little south of the 
Unitarian Church in South Scituate Village, believed to 
have been built by Zebulon Sylvester. A second one 
was later erected on the same spot, but was discontinued 
as a mill before 1800. The building was afterward used 
as a horse-shed, and taken down when the church was 
built, in 1830. The site of this mill has been removed in 
part, during the last half-century, by the removal of 
gravel from the hill in the Town Field, once owned by 
Warren Sylvester, a grandson of Zebulon. 



Most accounts agree that the Jacobs mills, at Assi- 
nippi, were built by the brothers, Joshua and Dr. Joseph 
Jacobs, sons ot David of Greenbush, about 1730. They 
were probably built a little earlier, for the General 
Court passed an Act of Incorporation for the new town 
of Hanover in 1727, and in it "David Jacobs' sawmill 
dam" was mentioned. Both grist and saw mills were 
built, the grist-mill on the westerly, and the sawmill 
on the easterly, flume. For a period of one hundred and 
ninety years they have remained in the family possession, 
the last owner having been Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, 
of Baltimore. The grist-mill was abandoned many 
years ago, and the structure removed, while the old 
sawmill was burned on July 4th, 1920. Jacobs Pond, 
with its island near the eastern shore, is one of the 
beauty spots of Assinippi. 



Samuel Stockbridge, son of Charles, of Greenbush, 
settled at Mt. Blue in 1703. His son Samuel was a 
Revolutionary soldier, and captain of one of the 
Scituate companies. In 1752, in company with James 
Bowker and Josiah Litchfield, he purchased land on 
Groundsell Brook, and built a sawmill, of which Stock- 
bridge owned one half, and Bowker and Litchfield the 
other. James Bowker removed to Georgetown, Me., in 
1764, and sold his share to Stockbridge., upon whose 
death it was inherited by his son James, also a soldier in 



218 MILLS 

the Revolution. James' heirs were Hosea, Jacob, and 
Joseph, the latter becoming owner of the mill by in- 
heritance, and by gift from his uncles. They passed 
through several hands until purchased by Joseph 
Hackett, who, with his son Wallace, did a flourishing 
business there about 1898. The last owners were the 
Richardson brothers. 



The Stockbridges, James, John, Hosea, and Jacob, 
later built a shingle mill on the same brook in the Mt. 
Hope section. It was burned, and was rebuilt with Perez 
Turner as one of the partners. This mill was sold to 
Isaac Pratt, who abandoned it. Charles Hackett pur- 
chased the site, and built another shingle mill, which 
was burned in 1914. 



In 1746, John Stetson received permission from the 
town to erect a mill at the Harbor, by flowing " any 
part of the landing-place near Mr. Ensign Otis' dwelling 
house, so long as he or his heirs should keep up the 
grist-m.ill." This was a tide mill, and its builder, John 
Stetson, lived on the Wanton estate, on North River. 
In the great snowstorm of November, 1786, this Stetson 
mill was swept across the marshes to the Marshfield 
shore, in like manner as the cottages on the Sand Hills 
beach, in the storm of 1898. 



In 1752, Joseph Tilden conveyed land to Elisha Peirce 
for a mill site, on the so-called Musquashcut "river," 
"at a place called Peirce's Bilding Yard," above the 
Stepping Stones, and near the old "swimmin' hole." 
It was a tide mill, and in 1754-55 Samuel Holbrook 
brought suit against Elisha Peirce for damages to his 
land, caused by the mill. In 1824, another Elisha Peirce 
conveys to Calvin Peirce the "mill lot," with no mention 
of a mill then standing, but one is remembered to have 
been there as late as 1800. 



MILLS 219 

In 1787, Amasa Bailey was granted a right by the 
town to erect a mill on the "Gulf." Was this mill ever 
built? 

Elijah Turner was granted leave by the town, in 1791 > 
to flow a part of the road near John Hatch's, to furnish 
water power for a grist-mill. 

Note: John Hatch's house was the old house on the south side 
of White Oak Plain that belonged to the Lemuel Turner estate, 
occupied for many years by an employee of the Turners by the 
name of Green. 

Elijah Turner built his grist-mill on Margaret's Brook, 
south of his dwelling house, that of his grandson, the late 
Miles S. Turner. Traces of the old dam can still be found 
near the boundary line between his property and that 
of Joseph C. Otis, on Pleasant Street. Remains of the 
old bridge, and the cartway leading from the road to the 
mill, are traceable south of the old cellar of the Elijah 
Turner house, burned in the late 90's. The mill was last 
used in 1827. 

About this same period, Galen Damon, Sr., built both 
saw and grist mill on a branch of the First Herring 
Brook; the sawmill reached by a cartway off Summer 
Street, the grist-mill, most conveniently, from the road 
leading from James Briggs' to Mungo's Corner. The 
grist-mill was in ruins many years ago. The sawmill 
was operated by his son, Galen, Jr., and the latter's son, 
Charles, after whose death it was purchased by 
Benjamin P. Foster and Charles A. Litchfield. 



The truth of the tradition that John Bryant, Jr., 
built a grist-mill on the site of the Torrey mill has never 
been questioned. The first sawmill there was built by 
Lemuel Turner before 1800. Samuel Adams Turner 
told his son John that he remembered, as a small boy, 
seeing the new sluice-way dug for "Lem" Turner's new 
mill. Samuel was born in 1792. This mill was operated 
by Lemuel and his son Albion. The latter's wife was 



220 MILLS 

Vesta Torrey, and after her husband's death it passed 
into the possession of her brothers, David, Jr., and 
Willard, who began to make trunks and boxes there. 
In the middle 70's the old mill was burned, and David, 
the elder brother, took over the business, using a new 
factory on River Street. He rebuilt the sawmill to use in 
connection with it, putting in new and heavier ma- 
chinery. After the death of David, in 1884, his brother, 
Everett Torrey, took over the old mill. Having no 
children, this property was given in his will to his 
nephews, Howard C. and George E. Torrey, and is still 
owned bv them. 



A tide mill that could be used in all seasons was a great 
convenience, and the loss of the old Stetson tide mill, in 
1786, was keenly felt until 1802, when Jesse Dunbar 
built another on or near the location of the old mill. 

The first deed on record at Plymouth for the transfer 
of the property is in 1811, when it was deeded to Howland 
and Edwin Otis. In connection with the grain mill, they 
used the old Melzar Turner shipyard for a lumber yard 
until after 1850. Philip Reynolds came from Stoughton, 
and, with William Smith, used the mill as a sash and 
window blind factory. Reynolds removed to Brockton 
to manufacture organs and melodeons, and Smith re- 
established a grain business in the old mill. This sign 
hung in Smith's mill for many years: "Heaven helps 
those who help themselves, but Heaven help you if you 
are caught helping yourselves here." 

Charles Cottle carried on the grain business until 
1867, when it was purchased by Augustus Cole and 
D. Sanford Jenkins, and conducted by them for some 
years. John E. O. Prouty continued the business until 
around 1890. The old mill building was then moved, 
and used by George Brown in his livery business. 



In 1817, John Clap built a sawmill upon the Third 
Herring Brook near his residence, a short distance up 



MILLS 221 

the stream from the old Curtis mill. It was used by 
him and his son John until the latter's death. 



A nail mill was built on the First Herring Brook, before 
1830, by Samuel Adams Turner and Lemuel Jacobs. 
Isaac Harrub made tacks and nails at this mill in Green- 
bush, and also in Dea. Ambrose Magoon's mill in the 
Two Mile. A Mr. Bisbee, probably from Bridgewater, 
manufactured trowels at the Harrub mill, which he later 
sold to Judge Keith of the Probate Court, who made 
shingles there. Charles Walker purchased the mill later 
and manufactured lobster pots, until he sold it to the 
Boston Rubber Cement Co., its present owners. Walker 
had previously made lobster pots in a steam mill on 
Winter Street, and after selling the Harrub mill, built 
the one now used by his son near the railroad at 
Greenbush. 

Samuel Adams Turner built a shingle mill upon the 
east branch of the Second Herring Brook in 1831. In 
addition to the shingle machinery, his son, John Turner, 
put in machines for manufacturing lobster pots, and 
with his son, J. Franklin, carried on a considerable 
business for some years, supplying, in large part, the 
lobstermen along the shore from Hull to White's Ferry. 
This was an earlier industry than Walker's, and the only 
other local manufacturers for some years were at Cohasset 
Cove. 

In 1842, Joseph Tolman built a sawmill on a small 
stream that forms the northern boundary of the ancient 
Cornet Stetson farm. It stood there in the late 60's, 
but was later abandoned. 



It will be noted that the sawmills of the town were 
largely in the southern and western sections, from 
which the shipbuilders of the North River got most of 
the lumber for their vessels, until those great storms, at 



222 MILLS 

the beginning of the nineteenth century, destroyed 
much of the remaining large growth. The mills were 
busy places during the ship-building days. Through the 
winter months the hum of the big saws could be heard 
for long distances. The large logs, often two or three 
feet in diameter, were drawn to the mills over the snow 
by several yokes of oxen, sometimes with a pair of steers 
in the lead, now an unusual sight for many years past. 



Before 1850, the making of trunks and boxes was 
carried on to a considerable extent in South Scituate, 
continuing until after 1880. John Jones, who lived on 
Jones Hill, near Assinippi, was the pioneer in this 
business in Plymouth County, it is stated. David 
Torrey's mill, on River Street, before mentioned, was the 
abandoned Universalist Church building, once standing 
in Duxbury, of which society the Rev. David Livermore, 
the husband of Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, had been a 
pastor. John Grose manufactured trunks and boxes on 
Prospect Street in a building now a dwelling house. 
David Turner was a later box maker at his mill before 
mentioned, first in the old Cushing mill, and later in a 
steam mill near by. The steam mill was burned in 1912, 
and his son, William D. Turner, soon built another, with 
electricity as the motive power. This mill was purchased 
in 1914 by Joseph F. Merritt. The output of the Turner 
mills was market boxes for the farmers of the adjoining 
towns. 

After the disastrous storm of 1898, many portable 
mills were set up in the woodlands, remaining here 
until the leveled forests were cleared. 



Early Poets 

A LETTER yellow with age, written by Samuel 
Woodworth (whose father married the widow of 
Joseph Northey) to Joseph Northey, his foster brother, 
together with a quaini old portrait of Samuel Woodworth, 
is still treasured by the family. 

The letter, written in the stilted style of long ago, is 
redolent of charm and affectionate friendship, the deli- 
cate flowing penmanship matched by the poetic senti- 
ments. It is a privilege to read the precious missive and 
look into the face of the portrait, and to come near to 
Scituate's beloved poet. 

He was born at Scituate Harbor in 1786, in a house then 
standing on the spot where Charles W. Frye's store now 
is. Like most enterprising country boys, he left his home 
at an early age to seek his fortune in the city; both his 
pastor and teacher had discovered marks of genius in the 
lad, and were wise enough to encourage and fire his 
imagination. 

He learned the printer's trade of Benjamin Burrell, 
publisher of the Columbian Sentinel, of Boston, and 
became the founder of the New York Mirror. Always, 
and naturally, his thoughts took the poetic form, al- 
though a few novels came from his pen, one of which was 
dramatized, "The Mexican Chief." At the age of four- 
teen he wrote the poem "My Mother's Grave," in which 
he describes his early life. It contains fifty stanzas, and 
begins by describing the poet's birthplace: 

"Beneath that roof I first inhaled the air, 

Poor were my parents, hard they earned their bread, 
Rich only in reputation fair. 

And owned no mansion where to lay their head. 

"Along yon streamlet, where the whispering reeds 
And fragrant flags upon its border play, 
Where through those cedars it meand'ring leads, 
My infant footsteps first were taught to stray." 

While living in New York, his thoughts often turned 
with longing to his early home; but stern necessity made 

(223) 



224 EARLY POETS 

his visits of infrequent occurrence. At one time he made 
the trip from New York to Scituate in winter by sleigh 
and posthorses, on which occasion he was forced to 
hasten his return for fear of a sudden thaw. 

One of his ballads of the heart which will live to be 
repeated and sung long after wiser and grander words 
are forgotten is "The Old Oaken Bucket." The incident 
of its writing is of interest: one hot day in New York, on 
reaching home, he remarked to his wife, "What would I 
not give for a drink from the old well in Scituate." 
"Put that in a poem," she said. 

His "quiver was full" of children — ten sons and daugh- 
ters were his. One of them, Selim, named for an early 
nom de plume of his father's, collected and edited his 
poems in two volumes; these are now out of print, but 
copies are carefully cherished by the Northey family. 

Note: The present Northey farm has been in the family since 1675, 
when John Northey bought it of Thomas Ingham, whose wife, Mary, 
bewitched Mehitabel Woodworth. This was one of the two cases of 
witchcraft tried in the Old Colony, and Mary Ingham was acquitted 
by the jury. 

In the old town of Scituate, corner of Kent Street anci 
Meeting-house Lane, overlooking the harbor, stands the 
house where the Hon. George Lunt, of Boston and Har- 
vard College, came to make his home at the time of the 
Civil War. 

He was a journalist — joint editor of the Boston 
Courier with George S. Hilliard. He was a writer on 
religion and philosophy, and he was also the author of 
excellent poetry. That he was fond of his adopted town, 
and had a realizing care for it, is shown by the fact that 
he was instrumental in getting the first breakwater in 
Scituate. He was United States District Attorney, and 
a contemporary and friend of the eminent jurists and 
statesmen of the Anti-Slavery and Civil War period. 

Mrs. Lunt's brother, the poet Dr. Thomas William 
Parsons, spent much time here with the Lunts when 
weary of the confusion of the city. He wrote constantly 
for the Courier, but some of his choicest poems were 



EARLY POETS 225 

given to friends before publishers. He won deserved 
fame as the "translator of Dante." He was a friend and 
oft-time companion of Henry W. Longfellow, and 
lovingly wrote of "The Old House at Sudbury." The 
Poet's Tale, in "Stories of the Wayside Inn," is repre- 
sented as being told by him. 

Mr. Lunt's daughter inherited much of her father's 
talent, and as the widow of Captain Meteyard, she, 
too, made her home here, living for some time with her 
people, later building a house on Meeting-house Lane, 
where she lived with her son, Thomas Meteyard, a well- 
known artist and illustrator. Her devotion to Letters 
and Art drew to her home many writers and painters, 
among them Richard Hovey, who wrote "Seaward," a 
loving tribute to Thomas William Parsons; and Bliss 
Carman, who will always be remembered by the following 
verses: 

"Over the shoulders and slopes ot the dune 
I saw the white daisies go down to the sea, 
A host in the sunshine, an army in June, 

The people God sends us to set our heart free. 

"The bobolinks rallied them up from the dell, 
The orioles whistled them out of the wood; 
And all of their singing was, 'Earth, it is well!' 

And all of their dancing was, 'Life, thou art good!' " 




Mary Louisa Foster 



Early Artists 

CAPTAIN THOMAS SOUTHWORTH was a de- 
scendant of Colony Treasurer Constant Southworth, 
one of the sons of Alice Southworth, who became the 
wife of Gov. William Bradford, as mentioned in Plymouth 
history and in the Jane Austen books. 

He had married Sarah, daughter of Elisha James, in 
1797, and came from Duxbury to live in Scituate in 1800. 
"His mansion house stood near the gate that led to the 
'Block. House.' " It was unfortunately burned in 1823, 
and was replaced by a much smaller one. Their three 
sons, Nathan, Thomas, and George, were the earliest 
Scituate artists. 

Nathan was born in Scituate in 1806; he early mani- 
fested talent in drawing, and, establishing himself in 
Boston, ranked as one of the best in his department of 
art. His likenesses were characterized by accuracy in 

(226) 



EARLY ARTISTS 227 

drawing and great delicacy of execution. G. S. Hilliard, 
of reading-book fame, and an intimate friend of Nathan's, 
said: "He was a man not wiciely known, but his ability 
as an artist, and his purity of life and amiable qualities 
as a man, entitle him to some tribute to his memory." 

He enjoyed in youth the benefit of no other education 
than that of the common schools of Scituate. On leaving 
school he began to learn the trade of house carpenter, 
and afterwards engaged in the business of a machinist. 
All through life he was remarkable for skill and neatness 
in handicraft work, but his spirit was that of the artist 
and not of the mechanic, and obeying this impulse, soon 
after attaining his majority he began the making of 
pictures. 

In a few years he was established in Boston as a minia- 
ture painter. He resided there until 1848, when he 
visited Europe, remaining a year. After his return he 
painted in New York and Philadelphia for a time, but his 
health failed rapidly, and he withdrew from active exer- 
cise of his art and went to live in Hingham with his 
mother. After her death he visited Paris again, in 1857, 
undertaking a commission beyond his strength, that of 
buying works of art for patrons in America, and his 
illness soon assumed a serious character. He turned 
homeward, impelled by the desire to draw his last breath 
in his native air. He arrived in Boston April 25, 1858, 
and died in the carriage on the way to Hingham. 

Nathan painted some canvases, but he excelled in 
portrait miniatures. The picture accompanying this 
article is that of Mary Louisa, daughter of Samuel Foster, 
the shipbuilder. She was considered very beautiful, and 
quite the belle of Scituate in her day. x^t the time of her 
death, at the age of eighteen, she was soon to have married 
Henry Bowers, Jr., a grand-nephew of Madam Hannah 
Gushing. Mrs. Arthur L. Power (Mary Louisa Foster 
Nash) bears the name of her great-aunt, and cherishes 
this miniature, which was painted by Nathan Southworth 
about 1842. 



228 EARLY ARTISTS 

Thomas Southworth was born in Scituate about 1809, 
and died in 1887. He had great talent, and would have 
been greater than Nathan if he had continued his work, 
but after the death of his wife, who was Elizabeth 
Thaxter Davis, of Dorchester, and his son, aged six 
months, he lost his desire for painting. The other 
brother, George, who was also an artist, died in Hingham, 
unmarried, at the age of twenty-nine, in 1844. 



Mossing 

TONG before motor boats were in common use, a 
^-^ stranger standing on one of our cliffs at sunset, 
when the long shadows of twilight were deepening, would 
have been puzzled to see, coming slowly toward the shore, 
a long line of dark objects like uncanny sea monsters. 
Perhaps fifty might have been drifting in at one time; 
as they drew nearer a man could be discerned on each 
one, guiding it with a pole. 

This was one of the tar-tamed mossing fleet. Low 
boats, all heavily laden at one end, which gave them a 
weird appearance. 

The Irish moss, as it is called, is still one of our paying 
inciustries. Quantities grow on the rocks along the coast. 
It is gathered with long rakes and piled in the dories until 
they can hold no more. This being wholly a summer 
industry, the men made long days, usually starting by 
four o'clock in the morning, at which hour city sojourners 
were often wakened by cheery halloos or a matin snatch 
of song, as the men lazily poled far out into the water, 
knowing just where they could find their day's haul. 

"On Scituate sands, what busy hands 
In summer's prime we see; 
Not idle boats, those little floats, 
But beds of industry." * 

Any time during the season the process of drying and 
bleaching the moss may be seen on Peggotty and Jericho 
Beaches. First the white sand is made smooth and free 
from stones above the tide line, then the moss, or 
"carrageen," as the gatherers call it, is spread out in 
square patches, looking like a veritable sea garden with 
its dashes of color. When first brought in it is dark green, 
later a reddish purple, and lastly a creamy white, dried 
until brittle and ready for the market. An added touch to 
this sea garden is the sight of women and children, with 

* Poem by Mrs. George Lunt. 

(229) 



230 MOSSING 

browned, bare feet, turning the moss with rakes over and 
over in the sunshine or pouring on the sea water, which 
hastens the bleaching process. 

The moss is useci in the manufacture of cloth, paper, 
straw hats, gelatine for eating, and in breweries. How- 
ever, as it is becoming more scarce, and higher priced, 
cheap chemicals are now often substituted. 

This industry was carried on more extensively in 
Scituate and one place on the California Coast than 
anywhere else in the United States. The business is 
almost wholly in the hands of the Irish, and was, in fact, 
the thing which first attracted them to the town years 
ago. They have grown into a large community, and 
many have become prosperous citizens. 

At first each man worked for himself, and had a little 

spot on the beach near his home where he washed and 

dried his moss, then packed it into barrels, awaiting a 

buyer who came at stated intervals to secure the harvest. 

Much anxiety attended the buying, for the lucky sale of 

the season's moss meant food and comfort for the winter, 

when there was no work in mossing. 

"So Heaven provides from out these tides 
The poor man's home to bless, 
While busy hands on Scituate sands 
The 'carrageen' may dress." * 

* Poem by Mrs. George Lunt. 



The Past Geography of Scituate, 
Massachusetts 

THE very name of Scituate has a geographical flavor, 
having been named from Satuit Brook. The story 
of her past geography is written in the gravel hills and 
harbor muds and in the beaches and cliffs of her shore. 
It is a difficult problem to trace their genealogy, and 
the story reads like a miracle. We change the surface of 
our town a little by dredging our channels, by leveling 
our rolling hills, and by clearing the forests; but these 
are as atoms when compared with the changes that took 
place before the advent of the white man or the Indian. 

It takes a big stretch of the imagination to think of our 
peaceful waters once witnessing volcanoes pouring out 
streams of glowing lava, and darkening the sky with 
clouds of ashes. The vestiges of these ancient mountains 
have nearly disappeared. Their vast bulk of material 
has long since been swept away by erosion. It is fair to 
infer that, if these elevations existed, they were sculp- 
tvired by waves as powerful as those of today; and that 
the same kind of winds and rains, and the same kind of 
streams wore them down to their present base. The 
granite ledges of our "stern and rock-bound coast" are 
all that remain to suggest these burning mountains. 

These coarse granite headlands, our oldest rocks, were 
formed in the deepest-seated portions of the volcanoes, 
where the process of cooling was extremely slow and the 
various minerals had time to sort themselves and crystal- 
lize. Granite is the only rock of economic importance 
in the town; it has been quarried to a slight extent near 
Osher Rocks. In some places the rock is too fissured for 
building purposes, and cost of transportation, two miles 
to the railroad station, is also a disadvantage. After all, 
there is greater wealth in keeping these gems of scenery 
for all time than in transforming them into gold and 
silver for the benefit of a generation. 

(231) 



232 



EARLY GEOGRAPHY 



r'vx-^t^^l^HBnK^^^^^^PI^H^mHB 


^^.^^^^^m'^^^^^rr 




"^'^^r^^^^-^^^^ ■ 



Granite Headland, Showing Darker Dyke Rock, 
AT "Glades" 



During these earlier geologic ages molten rock squeezed 
into clefts of the granite, forming dikes, such as are seen 
at either end of the North Scituate Beach, where it is 
easily recognized by its dark green or black color. 

The Scituates differ from the Weymouths, Braintree, 
and Quincy, in that most of our ledges are covered with 
gravel. In ciriving from the inland toward the beach, the 
ledges do not appear on the surface until one reaches 
Conihasset Hall. The hall is aptly named from the old 
Indian word Quonahassett," as meaning a "long place 
of rocks." Then comes Booth Hill, a vast accumulation 
of gravel, the bottom-rock not cropping out again until 
one crosses the railroad. Farther on, the ledges become 
a common part of the landscape, some of the houses 
being literally "built upon a rock." Wherever these bed 
rocks are able to peek above the gravel, we get a vision 
of ancestral peaks. 

The geologic epoch that has had the greatest effect 
upon our life is the glacial period. It is estimated that 
between five and ten thousand years ago a great ice sheet 
covered the northeastern part of North America as far 



EARLY GEOGRAPHY 233 

south as the Ohio River. This episode has been de- 
ciphered from the action of Hving glaciers in the pohir 
regions and in the mountains. The ice sheet in Greenland 
is carrying rocks of all sizes and depositing them without 
sorting. This material, varying in size from large boul- 
ders to fine clay, is called "till" or drift." The huge ice 
mass grinds off the rotten part of the ledges, over which 
it passes, sometimes leaving parallel scratches. As the 
load is gathered from a wide area, it consists of many 
kinds of pebbles, which have been crushed into angular 
fragments, whose surfaces have been scratched. The 
only agent that is doing that sort of thing today is the 
glacier. It is undoubtedly true that the glacier was 
the agent that caused the same kind of a formation in 
the past. 

A section of any of our hills shows them to be made of 
gravel and boulders thrown together in a helter-skelter 
fashion, quite unlike the systematic way in which the 
North River deposits sand in one place and carries clay 
to another. 

To think that one of these heights, Colman Hills, 
has been purchased for its gravel, and that the material 
is sorted and shipped to Boston, New York, and other 
ports! The tearing down of these hills by man for rea- 
sons of industrial pursuit should be a sounding note to 
the inhabitants that we have some gravel hills marred 
by man which are not only monuments ot the glacial 
period but teeming with beauty and historic memories. 

The stones of the Scituate drift are of many kinds. 
These may be more easily studied at the foot of one of 
the four cliffs, where they have been unearthed and 
cleaned by the waves. Here one finds many pudding- 
stones (conglomerate) and greenish boulders (melaphyre). 
Since there are no cliffs from which these rocks could 
have broken, they must have been brought there. We 
do not see the tide bringing in such boulders today, and 
do not believe that they were brought in any unusual 
way in the past. The only known force that could have 



234 



EARLY GEOGRAPHY 



conveyed them was the ice. It this is true, we must 
search in a northerly direction to find the original home 
from which these weighty objects were plucked; we find 
such ledges at Nantasket. One cannot help noticing that 
these boulders become larger as one approaches Atlantic 
Hill. This is as one would expect; for the glacier would 
grind its freight to a smaller size the farther it was 
carried. It is unusual for us to think of the soil of our 
gardens as representing the relics of high mountains, 
worn by winds and storms, and later mixed by a great 
glacier; but such is affirmed by a study of the features 
of the earth. 




Hatchet Rock 



The largest boulders are granite, which is the most 
common rock of the group immediately north. Hatchet 
Rock, on the summit of Booth's Hill, is a typical illus- 
tration. 

This is an unusually regular boulder, and the notch in 
the ledge, from which it was plucked, should be easily 
recognized. This is a modern problem for Boy Scouts, 
as exciting as trailing wild game by the pioneers. Toad 



EARLY GEOGRAPHY 235 

Rock, on the estate of Silas Peirce, at F^gypt, is a diorite 
boulder, resting on drift material. In sharp contrast 
to these resistant boulders, is the absence of slate rocks. 
The underlying material ot the Hull peninsula, Slate 
Island, in Hingham Harbor, and other islands in the 
Boston Harbor, must have contributed a large amount of 
slate to the glacier, bur the character of the rock allowed 
it to be ground up by the ice sheet. Only traces of slate 
are therefore found in the gravel hills. 

Most of the hills in Scituate are smooth and rounded, 
composed of gravel, with their long axes running from 
northwest to southeast, which would indicate that the 
glacier moved out to sea in that direction. These hills 
(drumlins) are in direct contrast to the irregular ledge 
hills, which are made up of hard, resistant rock. The 
largest drumlin is Prospect Hill, the highest hill in 
Plymouth County, 218 feet in altitude. One obtains 
grand views from the summits of these hills. They are 
usually pasture lands, and are at present becoming 
covered with a young growth of white pine anci juniper, 
commonly called ' savin" or "red cedar." 

/\nother noticeable feature of the landscape is the long 
ridges (kames), such as extend along the northerly 
shore of x^ccord Ponci. It is said that these hills were 
often Indian trails, and frec|uently old cart-paths are 
faintly hinted by the nearly filled grooves made long ago 
by farm wagons. 

x^mong other records of the ice epoch should be 
mentioned the evidences shown by the granite ledges. 
The surface of the rocks has been ground smooth, in some 
places almost polished. The residual soil and all rotten 
debris, which is weathered from a rock remaining in place 
for an indefinite period, has been planed away. Often- 
times the ice etched parallel lines, using its pebbles for 
tools. Such striae may be seen on the ledges in the glades. 
The direction of these scratches is practically the same 
as the long axes of the drumlins. Wind and water cannot 
do these things; to find such an action going on we must 



236 EARLY GEOGRAPHY 

visit a glacier. The granite ledges then form a diary, 
where the glacier wrote a record, in the presence of which 
we cannot doubt that Scituate was once over-ridden by 
vast sheets of ice. 

All of our natural ponds are due to the invasion of the 
glacier. The hollows in which these formations occur 
were caused by the melting of huge icebergs or by the 
deposition of gravel in the pathway of streams. There 
are very few natural ponds in this region. Black Pond 
and Accord Pond are good examples. The artificial 
ponds — Torrey's, Hackett's, Assinippi, Old Oaken 
Bucket, etc. — were made by placing artificial dams in the 
pathway of streams. At each one of these ponds are 
sawmills, old and decrepit, but plodding along with an 
infirm manner. The shallow basins are ponds only in 
winter, becoming meadows in summer, where hay, and 
occasionally cranberries, are harvested. The Old Oaken 
Bucket Pond is now being utilized by the Scituate Water 
Company. 

The age following the melting of the ice sheet may be 
spoken of as the post-glacial or present period, and since 
these changes are now going on they are easier to inter- 
pret. The modern shore has developed cliffs, beaches, 
and marshes; the plants and animals which were driven 
southward by the glacier migrated north again. Most 
recent of all came man. As to the first human of the 
region we have no evidence — there are no human relics, 
no stone tools, no ancient hearths, if there were any 
the glacier completely erased them. We simply know 
that the early settlers found the Indians. 

The work of the waves may be divided into three steps: 
the erosion of the hills, the carrying away of the fine 
material, and the building of the beaches. 

The dash of the waves is more effective in wearing 
away the gravel of the North River Cliffs than the re- 
sistant rocks of North Scituate. The waves do not 
reach the higher portions of the cliffs, but undermine the 
upper masses of soil, causing them to fall to the base. 



EARLY GEOGRAPHY 237 

The recession coast line has retreated rapidly up to 
recent years; to avoid this breakwaters have later been 
built. One can reason out the original form and size of 
the drumlins by continuing the uniform curve of the crest 
of the hill seaward or by observing the boulders which 
have dropped down as they were undermined. The steep 
slopes, of course, are always on the seaward side; land- 
ward the slope is gentle. These drumlin hills have been 
considerably reduced by the waves and tides, and in 
some places, as the Fourth Cliff, have almost disap- 
peared. 

The material eroded from the cliffs is transporteci 
by the alongshore currents and the undertow. The 
boulders, being too heavy for even the strongest waves 
to carry, remain where they fall. The coarse material, 
gravel and sand, is rolled along the shore to form beaches, 
and the fine clay soil is carried into the still, deep water. 

The waves deposit their load in systematic fashion. 
The material is not carried into the bays, but builds up a 
beach across the mouth, as the "Sand Hills," which are 
creeping across Scituate Harbor. In this state of de- 
velopment it is a spit. If the spit builds across the bay, 
shutting it off as a lagoon, the deposit becomes a bar. 
The completion of the bar is often prevented by the tidal 
currents. The building of jetties at the mouth of the 
harbor causes a swift current which scours out the chan- 
nel and allows vessels to come in to the docks. 

When the ponds are completed by the barriers shutting 
off the bays from the open water, they tend to fill up with 
sediment which is washed in by the rain and by streams. 
Here and there water-plants gain a foothold, and in 
course of time the shallow lagoon becomes a marsh. 

The shore line is now fairly well straightened, and the 
waves begin to drive back the cliffs, beach, and marsh. 
Near the mouth of the North River pieces of the marsh 
are found near the low tide line, showing that the marsh 
was once a great deal larger and that the pebbly beach 
is being driven back onto it. A marsh protruding 



238 EARLY GEOGRAPHY 

beneath a beach may also be seen at the point from 
which the picture of the dike rock was taken. 

The history of the region near the mouth of the North 
River may therefore be summed up as follows: the hills 
or drumlins were deposited by the glacier in the form of 
islands. The sea made great inroads upon the drumlins, 
making steep cliffs, the eroded material connecting the 
islands by means of beaches. In the quiet waters back 
of the beaches and the cliffed drumlins a great deal of 
sediment was deposited. This accumulation allowed 
vegetation to develop marshes. The inner edges of the 
marshes, then, indicate the former shore line, and the 
great extent of the marshes shows how much the water 
area has been reduced. 

The latest change of note was the forming of the new 
mouth to the North River, which was predicted by 
Deane, in 1831, when he wrote: "The beach between the 
third and fourth cliff is composed of sand and pebbles, 
and resists the attrition of the tides more than the cliffs; 
yet it is slowly wasting, and the river probably will 
eventually find its outlet between those cliffs." In the 
big gale of November 27, 1898, a large tidal wave broke 
through the beach north of the Fourth Cliff. The river 
now empties into the ocean at this place, instead of 
continuing its former course irregularly parallel to the 
old mouth, miles to the south. The tidal-fiats of the 
river, where once the farmers cut their "salt-hay," are 
now mud-fiats yielding clams. These changes took place 
"before our very eyes," and help us to conceive the 
changes of the past. 



Memorable Storms 

REFERENCES to storms that have been destructive 
in Scituate have been found in old diaries, almanacs, 
and documents. There are records of hurricanes, in 1635 
and 1638, unroofing houses and uprooting trees. There 
was the great snowstorm of November, 1786, when John 
Stetson's tide mill at the Harbor was swept over the 
marshes to the James Turner farm. 

The great storm of 1851 was of especial fury along the 
coast from Portland to New York. Spring had opened 
and the season for bad storms had passed, but for several 
days before Monday, April 14, the wind had been blow- 
ing strongly from the east. On that day it shifted to the 
northeast, and with it came the storm that had been 
brewing. x'\ll day Tuesday the gale continued, and by 
Thursday night it had become violent, with very high 
tide, flooding wharves, cellars, and streets. 

On Thursday the storm began to abate, but with the 
wind still in the northeast. Friday and Saturday the 
storm continued, but on Sunday the sun shone brightly, 
the first time for ten days. Scituate Harbor had been 
damaged to the extent of ?5,000, and the oldest inhabi- 
tant said the tide had not been as high since Wednesday, 
December 16, 1786, a period of sixty-five years. The 
greatest damage was along the wharves and the lumber 
yard of Howland & Edwin Otis, who carried on the 
business at the old mill and shipyard. Front and Kent 
Streets were flooded and filled with wreckage from the 
lumber yard, which was carried by the wind and tide to 
the farms of Michael Welch and Samuel Turner, destroy- 
ing walls and fences on its way. 

The Marshfield packet, which had just put into the 
harbor for safety broke her moorings and went ashore 
on Webb's Island. All this damage, although consid- 
erable, was dwarfed by the calamity that on Thursday 

(239) 



240 MEMORABLE STORMS 

began to be noised along the shore. The new Minot's 
Ledge Lighthouse, built only two years before, had been 
completely carried away, taking with it two assistant 
keepers, Joseph Antoine and Joseph Wilson. The 
structure was built upon nine iron piles, ten inches in 
diameter at the base, tapering to four or five inches at 
the top, braced and counterbraced in various directions. 
On the five-ton cap the lighthouse and the keeper's house 
were placed. It was first lighted January 1, 1850, for the 
superintendent of the construction company recom- 
mended that no apparatus or keeper be installed until 
it had withstood the storms of one winter. 

After passing one season in the lighthouse, with 
two assistants, the keeper, Isaac Dunham, of West 
Bridgewater, became convinced that the structure was 
not safe, and gave notice to the government to that 
effect. No notice being taken of his warning, he resigned 
in October, 1850, and the second keeper, John W. Bennett, 
was appointed. He was a man of courage and felt no 
uncertainty at first, but by the time he had experienced 
the November gales, he, too, called for an investigation. 
Made upon a fair day, the engineers reported it equal to 
"standing the strain of any storm without danger." 
The storms of the following December and January were 
of great fury, and Keeper Bennett and his assistants 
realized their perilous position. Although somewhat 
damaged, it weathered the gales; and Capt. Swift, the 
chief construction engineer, warmly defended the struc- 
ture in Appletori s Mechanics Magazine of February, 1851, 
in these words: "This severe test must tend to establish 
the entire sufficiency of this material (iron) for the 
purpose of lighthouse structures, even in the most 
exposed situation, when put together with proper care." 

Although Bennett's experience of the light swaying 
two feet from side to side in the storms of December and 
January had made him fearful, yet the period of bad 
storms having passed, he probably thought himself 
secure for some months to come. 



MEMORABLE STORMS 241 

On Friday, April 11, he was called to Boston to see 
about the purchase ot a boat for the lighthouse, leaving 
his assistants in charge. Returning on Saturday, he 
found the sea too heavy to get to the light, and went to 
his home at Whitehead, Cohasset. Sunday and Monday 
the same conditions prevailed, and when the storm broke 
on Tuesday, he could only watch and await developments. 

The lighthouse was seen to be standing at 3.30 p. m. 
on Wednesday, and in the evening the light was burning 
as late as 1 1 p. m., with the tog bell tolling rapidly. The 
next morning the shore was strewn with wreckage for 
miles, anci no vestige of the structure was visible, while 
immense waves tumbled over the ledge where it had 
been. The body ot Antoine was founci at Nantasket 
soon atter the storm, and later that of Wilson was dis- 
covered in a cleft of Gull Rock off the Glades.* 

In clearing the wreck of the ill-fated Minot's Light 
the bell, said to have been cast by Paul Revere's son, was 
recovered from beneath the ocean waves and disposed of 
as junk. It was purchased, however, for use on a factory 
at Turner, Me., and it was there vmtil the burning of the 
mill in September, 1905. At that time the owner, Mr. 
Faulkner, lost his life, and the bell that had passed 
through storm, flood, and fire was, after half a century of 
service, put out of commission. It was recast with some 
added metal, and was presented, by Mr. Faulkner's 
daughter, Mrs. Anna Chase, to the Baptist Church of 
Bryant's Pond, Me., in 1906, and is now in use in the 
steeple of that church. It bears this inscription: 

This Bell Is Given to the Bryant's Pond 

Baptist Church, in Toying Memory of 

Francis T. Faulkner. 

The Turner Woolen Mills Bell, 

Previously on Minot's Ledge Lighthouse, 

Is Incorporated Herein. 1906. 

Another effect of the storm of April, 1851, was the 
tearing away of the beach between the ocean and 
* Arranged from account written by S. F. Wilkins. 



242 MEMORABLE STORMS 

Musquashcut Pond, making an opening forty feet wide 
through which the tides ebbed and flowed, called the 
' Gully." This prevented crossing the beach between 
Egypt and North Scituate with carts or carriages. It 
was so deep that the fishermen went into the pond in 
their boats. It, however, filled in gradually, but a large 
lot of sand had been carried into the pond, which formed 
flats, acres in extent, on which beach grass grows today. 
The old people called it the " Guzzle." 

The Great Storm of 1898 

^ I "^HIS storm, in which the S. S. Portland \^^.% lost, was 
-*- a disastrous one for Scituate. Saturday, November 
26, dawned clear and sunny, but soon showed indica- 
tions of a storm, which increased during the night, and 
Sunday morning the snow was so blind.ing that nothing 
could be seen. 

Monday, again all was bright and clear, but what a 
sight greeted the eye. The camps and cottages at the 
section of the Sand Hills toward Ceciar Point had gone 
down like card houses, thrown on their sides, on end, and 
bottom up on the marsh. The wreckage was carried 
across the harbor and piled up in great confusion on the 
Welch farm, once James Turner's, a mile and a half 
away. 

The pilot boat Columbia was driven high upon the 
sands with the wrecks of cottages all around her; nine 
lives were lost at the Sand Hills, eight on the pilot boat, 
and one, a woman, was drowned in trying to get away 
from her cottage. 

At North Scituate, on Stony Beach, the full force of 
the storm was felt, every house being moved and more 
or less wrecked, and the breakwater that had stood the 
test of time was obliterated. South of the Greenbush 
Station the bridge and the tracks were badly damaged, 
all traffic below there being by way of Kingston and 
^Yhitman for a time. On North River, just inside the 



MEMORABLE STORMS 243 

"shingle" beach connecting Third and Fourth Chffs, 
were many gunning camps on the low marsh islands; 
several of these were occupied, as the wilci duck had been 
plentiful that season. Some of the gunners managed to 
escape, but the Henderson camp was swept away, and 
four young men from Norwell lost their lives. The 
North River had made tor itself a new mouth three miles 
above the old one, as had long been predicted. 

The loss to the mossers was large, barrels and barrels 
of moss were swept away — likewise their boats and gear. 
Thousands of dollars' worth of trees were mown ciown 
in a day by the gale in various sections of South Scituate, 
and for several years the busy hum of the steam saw- 
mills and the "patois" of the Canadian choppers were 
common sounds heard in drivina; along the highwavs. 




Three Days After Great Storm of li 




The Humane Society of Massachusetts 

THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
was organized in Boston in 1785, and incorporated 
in 1791 by philanthropic men. It was formed for the 
purpose of reHeving the distress of its fellow men, and was 
the pioneer in the work of life saving. Through its means 
many lives and much property have been preserved. 

The seal of the society represents the rescue of Moses 
by the daughter of Pharaoh, with the motto, "I drew him 
out of the water." 

Conditions have changed, and the United States Gov- 
ernment Stations are now doing most of the work formerly 
done by the Humane Society. The houses are still kept 
fully equipped, and in any case of need or emergency a 
volunteer crew is quickly formed, and no lack of bravery 
is seen. Awards are made to any citizen of Massachusetts 
who, under any circumstances of peril, shall save or 
attempt to save the life of any person. 

There are other places besicies the shore where the lives 
of persons are endangered, and each year the society 
increases the number of life-saving buoys, small boats, 
and ladders where swimming or skating accidents are 
likely to happen. 

The first house built and sustained in Scituate for 
the use of shipwrecked men was called Scituate Charity 
House, and was on the Fourth Cliff. This was provided 
with simple furniture, food, clothing, utensils, and means 
for making light and fire, so that if any were cast ashore 
at this spot in storm and cold, he might not perish. 

(244) 



Wrecks on Scituate's Shore 

"HpHEY that go down to the sea in ships, that do 
A business on great waters," have many experiences 
of suffering and peril. Many a gallant ship has met her 
fate off these rocky shores — how many can never be 
known. The earliest wreck recorded as upon the 
Scituate shore was on December 16, 1693, when Capt. 
Anthony Collamore was wrecked on the ledge off North 
Scituate Beach, since known as Collamore's Ledge. 

In November, 1807, the ship Cordelia struck on Long 
Ledge and went to pieces, but the crew was saved. The 
vessel was from China, loaded with silks, tea, and fancy 
articles. She was built by Jonathan Sampson in 1805, 
at the North River Bridge Yard, and named for the 
builder's daughter. Captain Dorr, her captain, had had 
a set of china made abroaci, each piece marked with a 
gilt D. A tureen cover was the only piece that was saved. 

May 7, 1820. Ship Roxana went ashore off Scituate, 
a total loss, but all lives were saved. 

January 19, 1824. In a northeast snowstorm the brig 
Federal George was wrecked off Scituate. Crew saved, 
but vessel lost. 

February 1, 1830. The schooner Champion, of New 
York, was driven ashore. About this time a schooner 
with a cargo of grindstones from Nova Scotia was 
wrecked under the Fourth Cliff. 

February 1, 1831. Schooner Edivard went ashore a 
mile west of Scituate Light. 

January, 1834. Schooner Barb, from Halifax to Boston, 
sunk near Scituate. 

April, 1834. Brig. Jttila, from Rio to Boston, ashore 
on the rocks near Scituate. 

November, 1834. Schooner Sir H. Douglas, from 
Windsor, N. S., for Boston, ashore on Scituate Beach. 

January, 1835. Brig. Francis, from St. Marks to 
Boston, ashore at Scituate Bar. 

( 245 ) 



246 WRFXKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 

February, 1837. Schooner Spencer, a total loss on 
Scituate Beach. 

1838. The schooner Dispatch, laden with coal from 
Pictou, drifted down past the harbor in a driving snow- 
storm sometime in the winter of 1838. She was finally 
cast ashore on Fourth Cliff, and the captain, with his wife 
and four children, managed to get to land. There were 
two barns on the cliff at that time, but the family of 
John Hyland was living in one of them. These poor 
frostbitten refugees found shelter in the other barn, not 
knowing that anyone was near. At dawn one of the 
sons made his way to Joseph Colman's house and told 
his story. No time was lost in taking the people to 
comfortable quarters. 

The same year the Sidney, a schooner from Brewer, 
Me., laden with planks, came ashore between Third and 
Fourth Cliffs. 

There were three dreadful storms and gales in De- 
cember, 1839. On the coast of Massachusetts alone one 
hundred and fifty vessels were cast ashore in a more or 
less damaged condition. Many foundered at sea. The 
first gale began on Saturday night, December 14, and a 
violent snowstorm rageti till Monday. Many wrecks oc- 
curred, and the whole eastern coast was a scene of devas- 
tation. On Sunday, December 22, a second storm, 
called a hurricane, lasted two days, and caused great 
havoc amongst the shipping. The third of these great 
gales came on Friday, December 27, causing a tidal wave 
along the shore; the wharves suffered greatly. 

November, 1840. Schooner Delaware stranded on 
Scituate Beach, having mistaken Scituate Light for 
Boston Light. This mistake was not unusual, and was 
the reason Scituate Light was discontinued in 1860. The 
following December the schooner Perse ran ashore, hav- 
ing made the same mistake. 

October, 1841. The schooner Maine was wrecked on 
Scituate rocks, and in November, same year, the brig 
Constantia was lost near the cliffs. 



WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 247 

February 17, 1844. Brig Bordeaux, from New 
Orleans to Boston, came ashore at Long Beach. Crew 
saved, and later the brig was got off. The cargo was 
molasses. 

May, 1844. A schooner was dashed to pieces on Long 
Beach. Crew saved. Cargo of flour and potash was lost. 

January, 1845. A barque from Rio Janeiro to Boston, 
with a cargo of coffee, was completely wrecked on Cedar 
Point. 

In October ot the same year, a schooner from Nova 
Scotia, laden with charcoal and coffee, was a total loss 
on Third Cliff. The Maine, a fishing schooner of sixty 
tons, sailed for a bay fishing trip with Capt. Joshua 
Litchfield, ot Scituate, as Master; with him were ten 
sailors of Scituate and Cohasset. They stopped for the 
night of August 16, 1846, at anchor in the Bay, with a 
high wind blowing and clouds of fog around. Suddenly 
there was a crash, and the big steamship Hibernia, of the 
Cunard line, struck the schooner, which was dashed into 
fragments in a minute. The crew ot the Maine were 
swept away, and it is remarkable that any of them lived 
to tell the tale. There were five survivors, and they met 
once more, fifty-eight years afterwards, June 11, 1904, to 
live over again the story of their wonderful escape. 

November, 1846. A schooner from Maine, loaded with 
lumber, was wrecked on Third Cliff. Crew saveti. 

December 17, 1846. A brig from the West Indies, 
laden with sugar and molasses, was wrecked on Gull 
Ledge. Crew saved. 

The ship Dublin, loaded with cotton, got into trouble 
on Long Beach in February, 1847, and got out of it again, 
with little harm done. 

March 29, 1847. Brig. Maria ashore on Hummock 
Beach. 

March 10, 1848. The barque Frances Burr, built on 
North River, probably at the Wanton yard, bound to 
Boston from Palermo, with a cargo of fruits and nuts, was 
completely wrecked on Fourth Cliff Beach. Crew saved. 



248 WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 

May 22, 1848. Ship Ocean Monarch came ashore on 
Second Cliff Beach, but was towed away after some of her 
cargo of copper, tin, and crockery was thrown overboard. 

May 31, 1848. The ship Scott, from New Orleans to 
Boston, laden with cotton, struck in Bassing Cove, but 
got off without much damage. 

Novembers, 1848. Brig struck on Cedar Point. Her 
cargo was coal. Capt. Stimson in command. Vessel and 
crew saved, 

February 14, 1849. Brig Oscar, loaded with molasses 
from Matanzas, bound for Portland, was completely 
wrecked on Tilden's Point. Crew saved. On the same 
day the ship Jenny Lind, loaded with cotton, went ashore 
at Long Beach. A large schooner, laden with coke, went 
ashore below Fourth Cliff. The beach was covered with 
coke, but the next morning every bit was gone. About 
this time (as the almanac says) a brig laden with anthra- 
cite coal went all to pieces under Third Cliff"; and the 
three-masted barque Polycarp came in on the sand 
between Third and Fourth Cliffs, and was taken off 
intact by two tow-boats. 

April 16, 1851. This was the great storm which 
destroyed the first Minot's Ledge Lighthouse. It began 
on the fourteenth with a violent northeast wind, and 
turned into a tremendous gale, which caused an extraor- 
dinarily high tide. The conditions were at their worst 
when three wrecks occurred. The Russian brig Wilhel- 
mina, from Cadiz, loaded with salt, was a total loss 
on Fourth Cliff Beach. Crew saved. Brig Elizabeth 
from Matanzas to Portland, loaded with sugar and 
molasses, went ashore at the mouth of North River. 
Vessel and cargo lost, and all but one of the crew. A 
schooner from Thomaston, loaded with lime, took fire 
and was run onto the beach at the same place. Crew 
saved. 

September 21, 1851. K brig was lost on Third Cliff 
Beach. Crew saved, but the cargo was lost. The same 
day a barque was lost on Gull Ledge loaded with coal. 



WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 249 

Crew saved. A brig was wrecked on Bar Rock. Cargo 
of coal was lost; vessel and crew saved. 

1852. The London packet Forest ^ueen came ashore on 
Second Cliff" Beach in the early morning of February 29, 
1852, with forty immigrants on board, besides a cargo of 
general merchandise. She had been on a trading voyage 
for four years; it was said the cargo was very valuable, 
and of great variety, from gold watches to pig iron and 
steel. She struck in a thick snowstorm, but for a short 
time the sun shone brightly and the passengers were 
landed on the beach. Then, in a moment, the sunshine 
vanished and the storm burst again in greater fury, and 
an enormous quantity of the cargo was washed ashore. 
Vast quantities of ale, wine, gin, and liquors were thrown 
up on the beach and sampled on the spot. h\\ amusing 
story is tolci of a man who came up the beach with a 
stone gin jug on every finger, but the mischievous boys 
found him an Interesting target, and he reached high- 
water mark with only the handles of the jugs remaining. 
\ alviable skins were picked up on the beach, which was 
covered with goods of all description. One man picked 
up a large quantity of indigo and sold it at one dollar 
and a half a pounci; others did not recognize its value 
and passed it by. Cases of cochineal bugs were found. 
The hull was sold with the remainder of the cargo; divers 
were employed, and it was years before the task was 
finisheci, since pig iron, lead, and steel do not float. 
The very next day after the wreck of the Forest ^ueen 
a New York packet, loaded with corn and flour, came 
ashore not a hundred yards away. A line was rigged 
from the top of the cliff to the mast of the vessel, and 
the captain, his wife, and little boy, as well as the crew, 
were safely landed by means of the "breeches buoy." 

March 2, 1853. A schooner loaded with corn and flour 
struck on Third Cliff". The crew were saved with great 
difficulty; vessel and cargo were lost. 

December 29, 1853. The schooner Mary E. Peirce, of 
Bangor, from Wilmington to Boston, with a cargo of 



250 WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 

lumber, came ashore oif Scituate. Vessel and crew saved. 
Brig Clio, from Savannah to Boston, laden with cotton, 
came ashore on Fourth ClifF Beach. Crew and cargo 
saved, vessel a complete wreck. Schooner Mt. Vernon 
ashore at Cedar Point in the same storm. This heavy 
gale and snowstorm, which lasted two days, was disas- 
trous to shipping all along the New England Coast. 

December 30, 1853. Brig. T. P. Perkins, loaded with 
coal, went to pieces on Fourth Cliff Beach. Crew and 
cargo were saved. 

A schooner loaded with lumber was entirely wreckeci 
at the mouth of North River. A boy was drowned. 
Brig Lafayette was wrecked on Gunning's Point. Brig 
went ashore on Fourth ClifF Beach four weeks from the 
same day. 

January 19, 1855. A Scotch brig, Elizabeth, struck on 
Third Cliff Beach and bilged. She was loaded with pig 
iron. 

February 14, 1855. Schooner Northern Light wrecked 
on Tilden's Point. 

March 10, 1855. A ship from New Orleans, laden with 
cotton, ran onto Fourth ClifF Beach. The captain, mate, 
and one seaman were drowned. Cargo saved; vessel a 
complete wreck. 

Brig, on Fourth ClifF Beach loaded with staves. The 
cargo was unloaded on the beach, anci vessel got ofF 
unhurt. 

November 26, 1856. Brig. Mora, from New London, 
bound for Boston, ran onto First ClifF Beach. Vessel 
towed away after partly unloading the cargo, which 
consisted of elephant oil and ships' timber. 

January 18, 1857. Brig Judge Hathaway, Capt. Small, 
wrecked on First ClifF Point. Vessel taken ofF in a 
damaged condition. One man drowned. 

Schooner August came ashore in the harbor. 

January 19, Schooner Geneva, from Georgetown to 

y Boston, wrecked ofF Turner's Meadow, laden with hard 

pine timber. Capt. Perry, mate, and one seaman saved; 



WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 251 

one man perished from exposure, three others were 
washed overboard and drowned. Cargo saved; vessel a 
total loss. 

December 22, 1858. Schooner Sally Badger^ from 
Pittston, Me., for New Bedford, loaded with lumber, 
upset in the Bay and drifted on shore near the Scituate 
Charity House at Fourth Cliff. All hands lost. 

February 26, 1859. The American ship Elizabeth^ of 
Kennebunk, Capt. Lord in command, went ashore during 
the thick, heavy snowstorm. The lifeboat of the 
Humane Society was manned, and put forth to the rescue 
of the crew. The ship was owned by George Callender 
and others of Boston, and had on board thirty-five 
hundred bales of cotton. The captain, in the thick storm, 
had mistaken the whereabouts of the entrance to Boston 
Harbor. As it was impossible to get the vessel off, she 
was unloaded and dismantled, and her hull sold. 

March, 1860. Schooner Annie Davis, laden with oak 
staves from North Carolina, bound for Boston, went 
ashore on the Scituate side of North River at White's 
Ferry. Vessel and cargo saved. 

The George Peahody, a full-rigged ship, came ashore 
not far from there in the same storm. She was laden 
with cotton, which was unloaded, and the ship saved. 

The Whittaker, a brig, came ashore near the mouth oi 
the North River. She was launched into the river after 
great difficulty. 

March, 1861. A vessel was lost on Jenkins Ledge, 
only the captain being saved. (Davis Jenkins owned 
what has been lately known as the Norwell farm, near 
Shore Acres. Davis Point and Jenkins Point are 
one and the same, being the southern point of Shore 
Acres.) 

In this same storm a particularly sad wreck occurred. 
A schooner with a load of lumber from Bangor, Me., 
came ashore. The captain had just lost his wife by death 
and his house by fire, and had taken his three little boys 
with him on this trip. The vessel broke up on the rocks. 



252 WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 

and only the captain was saved. This was between Third 
and Fourth Chffs. A week later the Harvest ^ueen, a 
little barque built for a slaver, by name Webb^ of New 
York, laden with wood from Buenos xAyres, bound for 
Boston, came ashore south of Fourth Cliff. The cargo 
was unloaded on the beach and the vessel saved. They 
had taken a cargo of lumber to Buenos Ayres, intending 
to clear for the west coast of Africa for a load of "black- 
birds," but when the American consul learned the fact 
he refused the clearance papers to that place, so they 
were obliged to change their plans. 

November, 1861. The Nathaniel Cogswell, laden with 
lemons and raisins, sailed from Malaga with the Young 
Turk on a bet. The latter vessel arrived in Boston; the 
former was cast ashore south of Third Cliff. 

November 7, 1862. The schooner Maine Law was 
wrecked on Barker's Cove. She discharged her cargo of 
soft coal and got off with slight damage. A large vessel, 
loaded with lumber, was ashore on Deacon Litchfield's 
Point; cargo was sold. 

December 6, 1862. A schooner wrecked on Gunning's 
Point. She was saved after discharging her cargo of 
kerosene oil on the beach. 

April, 1863. Schooner Ruth, loaded with sand, en- 
tirely lost on Otis Films' Beach. Crew saved. 

November, 1866. Brig. Jubilee, from Nova Scotia, 
with forty passengers on board and a cargo of salmon, 
wrecked in a thick snowstorm off Deacon Litchfield's 
Point. (This is the north end of Shore Acres.) The brig 
came up high and dry on the beach, and all the passengers 
and crew were saved. The people of Egypt threw open 
their houses to the shipwrecked sufferers. They were 
entertained for two days, until their baggage could be 
secured from the vessel. A large proportion of these 
passengers were women and children. 

January 1, 1868. Brig. Julia Lingley, from Peru, laden 
with saltpetre, wrecked on Long Beach. Vessel and crew 
saved. 



WRFXKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 253 

December 1, 1868. A schooner, loaded with coal, was 
wrecked south of Fourth Cliff. Cargo and vessel lost; 
crew saved. 

March, 1869. Schooner, loaded with coal, came 
ashore on Long Ledge. 

1870. Abigail Haley, loaded with phosphate rock, 
wrecked under Third Cliff. Five men rescued. 

March 1, 1872. The Trojan, from Porto Rico, bound 
for Boston, laden with sugar and molasses, wrecked on 
the south end of Third Cliff. 

1873. A schooner, with a cargo of oranges, came 
ashore at Long Ledge. Everything was saved. 

A barque was wrecked on "The Hazards" in the same 
storm. 

The same year, a schooner, laden with sugar and horns, 
was completely wrecked on First Cliff Beach. Crew saved. 

January 29, 1875. Schooner Maracaiho, loaded with 
pig iron, bound for Boston, struck on Gunning's Point. 
She was towed off after discharging her cargo by lighters. 
The next day the British schooner Bessie, with a cargo 
of herring, came ashore at the mouth of North River. 
The cargo was sold on the beach. Vessel and crew unhurt. 

March 17, 1878. The Nantucket packet William P. 
Nettleton came up high and dry at the north end of Third 
Cliff. A volunteer crew of the Humane Society rescued 
the crew. There was no modern gear in use in Scituate 
at that time, but a line was sent ashore from the packet 
and made secure on land, and the crew came ashore on 
this line. When the captain reached the shore, he said 
in a low tone to Mr. E. Parker Welch, who received him, 
"Are you a Mason?" Mr. Welch replied, "No, Em a 
Methodist." "Just as good, just as good," said the 
captain. 

April, 1884. The schooner Martha Weeks, loaded with 
lime, took fire and drifted ashore on the rocks by Turner's 
meadow. Vessel and cargo were burned and crew saved. 

February 3, 1885. The Mary Killem was discovered 
in distress on the south end of Third Cliff. A blinding 



254 WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 

gale and northeast snowstorm made the sea very rough, 
but a lifeboat was launched and eight men were rescued 
in a pitiable condition. The vessel was a three-masted 
schooner from Havana, bound for Boston, with a cargo 
of sugar valued at $76,000. Only a small part of the 
sugar was saved. The vessel, valued at $25,000, was lost. 

June 29, 1885. The Elsie Fay, a three-masted 
schooner hailing from Boston, was cast ashore on 
Lighthouse Point, just north of Scituate Harbor. She 
was bound for Boston with a cargo of pineapples 
valued at $70,000. The accident was due to a thick fog. 
She was taken off by a tug later in the day, having 
sustained but slight damage. 

On the same day, the brigantine Hotspur ran onto 
Flurries Rock at North Scituate. She was from St. John, 
N. B., laden with sugar from Barbadoes. Fourth Cliff 
Life-Saving Station had been opened in 1879, and the 
captain, Frederick Stanley, with four men, went to her 
assistance. She was taken off by a tug at high water. 

September 10, 1885. A small sloop, Emily, came ashore 
in a northeast gale. She was rescued by the station men. 

October 6, 1885. The Whistler, a two-masted schooner 
owned by George Walbach, went on the flats at the 
entrance to North River. 

October 28, 1885. The three-masted schooner Lucy 
Graham, coal-laden, from Hoboken, bound for Boston, 
ran ashore at Third Cliff in a thick fog. With the help of 
the men from the station and a tug-boat she was hauled 
off without injury. 

January 9, 1886. Early in the morning a vessel was 
sighted ashore at Third Cliff. The life-savers, through a 
thick, blinding snowstorm, made their toilsome way to 
the wreck, which proved to be the Joel Cook, of 
Philadelphia, bound for Boston with a cargo of coal. 
She was on the rocks in a perilous position. Eight men 
were rescued by the breeches buoy and taken to Keeper 
Stanley's house to be cared for, as another wreck had been 
sighted at Humarock. Deep snow had fallen, and it was 



WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 255 

with great difficulty that the life-savers made their way 
with their gear to Humarock. The sea was breaking over 
the schooner, and the crew were in the rigging. The 
wreck was about a hundred yards from the shore, and 
the Lyle gun was used to try to get a line aboard for the 
breeches buoy. The first time, the line parted; the second 
time, the gun shifted its position on the icy stones, and 
the shot went wild; the third and fourth lines parted; and 
the fifth fell overboard. This was all they had brought, 
so a trip back to the station was necessary, when 
E. Parker Welch appeared with a Hunt gun and lines 
belonging to the Humane Society. These were used, and 
after several attempts in the teeth of the gale the breeches 
buoy was established, and nine men were rescued. This 
vessel, the Isaac Carlton^ from Machias, Me., was lost, 
with its cargo of coal. 

December 6, 1886. A leaking lumber schooner from 
Kennebunk, bound for Boston, was stranded at the 
mouth of North River. The men were saved. The 
lumber was unloaded later and the schooner hauled up 
until spring. 

December 7, 1886. Schooner Florence was wrecked 
north of Cedar Point. She was from Lunenburg, N. S., 
for Providence. 

December 7, 1886. The Florence A. Zink, from 
Newfoundland, came ashore at Tilden's Point in a heavy 
northeast storm. It was lost, with its cargo of potatoes. 
The men from Fourth Cliff" had great trouble in getting 
to the wreck, as the road was impassable with snow. 
When they reached the wreck they found that the crew 
of ten men, together with two women and a boy, had 
been rescued by the Humane Society crew. On the same 
day the brig Susie Kiffen, from New Brunswick, was 
wrecked off the north shore of Scituate Harbor. Her cargo 
was laths and piles. The captain and crew were saved 
by the Humane Society crew, who were near the spot. 

May 28, 1887. The three-masted schooner June 
Bright was stranded on Davis Point. She was from 



256 WRECKS OX SCITUATE'S SHORE 

Fernandina, Fla., laden with hard pine. Her compass 
was out of order and the weather was very thick. The 
crew were rescued by Capt. Brown and his men, and the 
vessel was saved, with its cargo in good condition. 

September 20, 1887. A Gloucester fishing schooner, 
Light-Wing, bound for Boston with a cargo of fish, was 
stranded between Third and Fourth Cliffs. The crew of 
ten men were saved by Capt. Stanley and his men. 
The schooner was lost. Cargo was insured. 

February 10, 1888. Schooner Agnes R. Bacon wrecked 
near Fourth Cliff. 

November 25, 1888. During the heavy gale and rain- 
storm, the fishing schooner Edward H. Norton^ laden with 
fish for Boston, was capsized, and stranded off First Cliff. 
She was washed up on the beach, and at low tide one man 
crawled out from under the hull. The name of this sole 
survivor of sixteen men was Martin Allen, of South 
Boston. 

November 26, 1888. Schooner J. is J. Locke (Isaac 
Burke, Master) broke adrift in Gloucester during the 
storm. Her crew were rescued by another vessel, and she 
v^ drifted to Turner's Beach, where she struck, and came 

on shore bottom up. She was from Boston, bound for 
Yarmouth with a cargo of flour, kerosene, and general 
merchandise, and was a total loss. This was the most 
severe storm for years. 

January 9, 1889. The TV. Parnell O'Hara, a two- 
masted fishing schooner, struck on the beach at Second 
Cliff, but was taken away by tow-boat later on with 
little damage. 

March 5, 1889. The brig T. Remiek, from Surinam, 
was stranded on North Scituate Beach. The crew was 
saved, together with part of the cargo of sugar, molasses, 
and cocoa. The vessel was broken up on the beach at the 
next high tide, and the wreck was sold at auction. 

September 20, 1889. A small schooner named Active., 
owned by Arthur Ward, loaded with salt, was stranded 



WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 257 

at the entrance of the harbor. The cargo melteci, and at 
high tide the schooner was pulled out on the flats. 

March 6, 1890. The steamship De Ruyter, from 
Antwerp to Boston, came ashore at Lighthouse Point 
about six o'clock in the afternoon. She had a cargo of 
plate and window glass, iron, rags, and general mer- 
chandise. The steamer's signals of distress were an- 
swered by volunteers with the Humane Society's life- 
boat, as well as by the crew from the station at North 
Scituate. All the men were saved, and the steamer was 
later towed to Boston. 

May 9, 1890. Edward Edson had a narrow escape 
from drowning when a fishing schooner from Duxbury 
capsized and sunk about a mile from shore on Chest 
Ledge. 

October 20, 1890. The fishing schooner Frederick 
Tudor, owned by George Walbach, parted her moorings 
in a heavy storm and stranded inside the harbor. She 
was pulled off at high water. The Mary Kmerson, be- 
longing to George Walbach, soon after found herself in 
the same trouble. 

August 26, 1892. William Ward, of Scituate, was in 
great peril trying to enter the harbor with a sailboat 
loaded with nets and fish. He had become nearly 
exhausted in the rain and heavy sea when three men went 
to his help. In this same storm the little schooner Fanny 
Fern, laden with moss, was stranded on the beach at 
North Scituate. The two men on board had lost their 
dories and were in a position of great danger. They were 
rescued by Capt. Brown and his crew, and the schooner 
shortly afterwards went to pieces. 

One of the notable wrecks off the First Cliff was the 
Minnie Rowan, which was a three-masted schooner, 
laden with coal, bound from Baltimore to Boston. This 
was February 1, 1894, in a northeast gale and snowstorm. 
She dragged her anchor and struck bottom in the fore- 
noon. The roads being filled with snow, the lite-saving 
men from Fourth Cliff station were obliged to go over the 



258 



WRFXKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 




A Wreck at Third Cliff 



cliffs with their handcart and gear, making gaps in the 
stone walls as they went. After many attempts to get 
a line to the wreck, all of which were futile, a lifeboat was 
launched. They reached the wreck after being swept 
back twice. The captain's leg was broken, and he 
was suffering from exhaustion. The sea was so rough 
that before he and the ship's crew could get into the 
boat it was swept back to shore again. The fourth time 
the boat reached the wreck the men were rescued, but 
when the boat landed it was on the rocks, and it was 
broken in pieces. The men were taken to the nearest 
houses and cared for. 

The two-masted schooner Magnum came ashore near 
Fourth Cliff in April, 1894. The crew were all saved, 
and the schooner, which was from Halifax, with no 
cargo, was sold on the beach. 

September 18, 1894. The sloop Nauset was rescued 
from a dangerous position off Tilden's Point. 

August 14, 1896. The Oceanus^ a small schooner from 
Gloucester, loaded with fish, was stranded near Fourth 
Cliff, but got off at high water. 

December 16, 1896. The two-masted Puritan was lost 
off Fourth Cliff. The crew were saved, furnished with 
clothing, and made comfortable at the Life-Saving 
Station. 



WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 259 

November 27, 1898. In this great gale and storm the 
pilot boat Columbia, of Boston, parted her chains, drifted 
down the Bay, and came ashore at Cedar Point. All on 
board were drowned. The hull was bought by Otis 
Barker and transformed by him into a counterpart of the 
home on the sands of Old Peggotty and Little Em'ly. 

February 7, 1899. The fishing schooner Emma W. 
Brown, from Georges Banks, with a cargo of fish for 
Boston, struck on Long Ledge, but was floated without 
much damage. 

September 9, 1900. The steamer John Endicolt, 
running between Plymouth and Boston, on her return 
trip struck a sunken ledge off Gull Ledge, and stranded. 
The two hundred anci sixty-five passengers were taken 
off by Capt. Brown and his crew, by Humane Society 
volunteers, and by the steamer's own boats. A week 
later she was floated by Bell's Wrecking Company, but 
on the way to Boston she filled and sank. 

The steamer ClaremoyU, from Gloucester, came ashore 
near Fourth Cliff with no one on board, September 18, 
and was saved by Capt. Stanley. Another schooner, 
George S. Boutwell, from Portsmouth, with a load of 
paving-stones, came ashore at the same place and was 
lost, but the crew were saved and cared for at the 
station. 

September 29, 1902. The steamer Alderney, with a 
cargo of coal from Cape Breton, bound for Boston, ran 
ashore on Cedar Point in a thick fog. With Capt. 
Brown's advice and assistance, and the sacrifice of 
twenty-five tons of coal, she got away safely. 

January 30, 1904. A heavy gale and thick snowstorm 
raged which caused great destruction along the coast. 
The three-masted schooner from Savannah, bound for 
Boston, with a cargo of lumber, was stranded off Fourth 
Cliff. Owing to her position on the rocks it was impos- 
sible to get a boat to her, so the breeches buoy was used 
for the rescue of the eight men who composed her crew. 
The vessel broke in two, a total loss. 



260 WRECKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 

There was great excitement in town one cold, foggy 
day, when it was learned that the big steamship 
Devonian had come ashore on the south end of Third 
Cliff, only five hundred feet from the shore line, hard and 
fast on the rocks. There were ninety-seven souls on 
board. The crew and four passengers decided not to 
leave the ship, as there was no imminent danger, although 
they were offered assistance. The steamer was built in 
Belfast in 1900, and cost ?700,000. The cargo of 
Egyptian cotton, hides, machinery, drygoods, crockery, 
mackerel, and general merchandise was said to be worth 
?1, 000,000. She was later taken off by tug to Boston. 
This was February 15, 1906. 

The Mary Cabral, loaded with fish, bound for Boston, 
was stranded on Humarock Beach, June 6, 1906. Vessel 
and crew were saved. 

The Governor Russell, a fishing schooner, bound for 
Boston with a cargo of fish, came ashore at Fovirth Cliff, 
August 9, 1906. She was hauled off at high tide. 

1909. Schooner Clio, owned by Gorham Peters, with 
George Edson, Master, broke anchor and came ashore 
in the sand. Capt. Franzen and crew put her in a safe 
position. 

September 26, 1909. The three-masted schooner 
Gipsey ^ueen, from Barbadoes, hoisted a signal of distress 
at the Glades, and Capt. Franzen and his crew went to 
the rescue. The vessel had a cargo of spruce piling, and 
had become unmanageable, having lost her foremast and 
her jib-boom. She had been leaking badly for some time, 
and in spite of every effort the water had reached the 
boilers and put out the fires. 

The tug Orion was secured, and the schooner was towed 
to Eewis Wharf in Boston. The schooner was originally 
from Windsor, N. S., and had been used to carry gypsum. 

December 26, 1909. The three-masted schooner 
Nantasket, from Georgetown, S. C, was stranded at 
Cedar Point. A gale anci snowstorm, with roads filled 
with snow, made progress to the wreck with the 



WRFXKS ON SCITUATE'S SHORE 



261 



apparatus most difficult. When Capt. Franzen and his 
crew reached the spot, the Humane Society volunteers 
haci already rescued three men. The remaining five were 
quickly saved. The vessel was a total loss. 

Schooner Matiana was stranded off North Scituate 
Beach, February 12, 1910, in a snowstorm. She was on a 
fishing trip, with sixteen fishermen and one passenger 
aboard. Vessel a complete wreck, but the men were all 
saved. A most difficult and dangerous rescue was made 
by Capt. Franzen, October 20, 1911. A small boat and 
only one man in peril, but heroic work was needed owing to 
the position of the boat and the nearness of the break- 
water. The man was rescued, but the tide going down, and 
the great combers coming in, made the salvage of the 
boat one of the most dangerous feats accomplished in 
years. 

The steam sand barge Jonas H. French, laden with 
sand from North River, sprung a leak and sunk off North 
Scituate, September 28, 1914, in a heavy squall. The 
crew came ashore in their own boat. 

Besides these notable wrecks, one-hundred-eight small 
sloops, power boats, sailboats, and dories, and two hun- 
dred men have been rescued by the life-saving men alone 
since 1879, when the first United States Government 
station was established in Scituate. 

Every one of these wrecks, large and small, represents 
much toil and hardship on the part of the men, besides 
sympathy and kindliness in the resuscitation and care 
^f/the shipwrecked sufferers. 
f/ The author would acknowledge her indebtedness for 
valuable information to Mr. E. Parker Welch, Capt. 
Moses Colman, keepers of the Coast Guard Stations, 
and to Mrs. Mary Turner, who kept for years a com- 
plete record of wrecks, many of which could be seen 
from her home. 



Town Seals 




SCITUATE'S first Town Seal was made from a design 
prepared by a committee consisting of Charles O. 
Ellms, and John J. Ford, Chairman of the Board of 
Selectmen. It was used on the back cover of the Town 
Report of 1899. A second seal was designed by Henry 
Turner Bailey in 1900, and was used for three years. 
Both seals read, "Incorporated 1633." Attention having 
been called to the error in date of incorporation, Mr. 
Bailey's design, with correct date affixed, was accepted, 
and officially adopted by the town. 




Norwell's Town Seal was adopted in 1899. 
presented by Joseph C. Otis, Town Clerk. 

(262) 



Design 



TOWN SEALS 

Symbolism of the Town Seal 



263 




Satuit Brook, from which the town derives its name. 

At the left a cliff, at the right the ocean. 

In the distance a Cedar Point, with rocks running out 
into the water, and a Pilgrim ship. 

An Indian, Wampatuck, from the land and the west, 
with a scroll, conferring grants of land and privileges. 

A Pilgrim, Timothy Hatherly, from the sea and the 
east, receiving the scroll. 



The dress of the Indian is taken from the Massa- 
chusetts State seal, and that of the Pilgrim from the 
Colonial paintings by Boughton. 

Henry Turner Bailey, 

Designer. 



Communion Silver of the First 
Parish Church, Scituate 

THE six silver beakers belonging to the communion 
service of the First Parish Church (Unitarian) of 
Scituate were loaned on June 25, 1910, to the Boston 
Museum of Fine Arts, to be shown at an Exhibition of 
Old Church Silver. They were placed in the large case 
in the hall on the second floor, where the three oldest 
still remain, while the other three are in a large safe 
where they, with much other valuable silver, are perfectly 
secure from fire or thieves. 

The collection is highly prized at the Museum as a 
very worthy exhibit of Colonial Silver. The beakers are 
cataloged thus: 

1111.10. American Silver. 18th Century. Maker, Joseph Clark. 
(Conn.) Beaker. Moulded base, straight sides, flaring lip. Inscribed: 
The Gift of Mr. Jonathan Merrit to the First Church of Christ in 
Scituate, 1757. 

1112.10. American Silver. 19th Century. Maker, Nathan Hobbs. 
(Silversmith of Boston.) Beaker like 1 1 13.10. Inscribed: The Gift 
of Deacon Seth Merritt to the First Church of Christ in Scituate, 
1824. 

1113.10. American Silver. 19th Century. Maker, Nathan 
Hobbs. Beaker. Moulded base, straight sides, turned back edge. 
Inscribed: The Gift of Jesse Dunbar, Esq., to the First Church of 
Christ in Scituate, 1828. (Mate to 1114.10.) 

1114.10 is an exact mate to 1113.10. 

1115.10. American Silver. 19th Century. Maker, Nathan 
Hobbs. Beaker like 1113.10. Inscribed: The Gift of Mr. Chandler 
Clapp to the First Church of Christ in Scituate, 1828. 

1116.10. American Silver. 19th Century. Maker, Nathan 
Hobbs. Beaker like 1113.10. Inscribed: The Gift of Miss Mary 
and Miss Hannah Clapp to the First Church of Christ in Scituate, 
1828. 



(264) 



An Interesting Bill of Sale 

Know all men by these presents that I Job Tilden of 
hanover in the county of plymouth in new england, 
yeoman In Consideraiion of Thirty Three pounds in good 
silver monney to me in hand paid by Joseph Tilden J"""" 
of scituate in the county of plymouth in new england, 
yeoman the Receit whereof I do hereby acknowledge 
have given granted assigned sett over and doe hereby 
give granted Said assign Sett over and deliver unto him 
the said Joseph Tilden J""*^' my negre garl named florow 
being about nine years old and is a servant for life to have 
and to hold said floro unto him the sai Joseph Tilden 
J""'', his exesequters and assigns and I do hereby cove- 
nant with said Tilden his Exscuters and assigns the said 
garl is sound and in good health and that I have good 
Right to make sale of her for Life as aforesaid and doe 
hereby warrint the said floro a servant for Life unto him 
the said Tilden his Exescuters and assigns witnesed my 
hand and seal 

desember 14 1762''''^°"''" 

Job Tilden 
Signed sealled and 
delivered In presence of 

Thomas Bates 

Joshua Bates 



(265) 



Scituate Soldiers and Sailors of the 
American Revolution 

These names of the soldiers and sailors in the Revo- 
lutionary War were taken from the volumes of Soldiers 
and Sailors of Massachusetts, published by the state, 
bv Mrs. Clara Turner Bates, of North Scituate. 



Allen, Joseph 



Bailey, Abner 
Bailey, Benjamin 
Bailey, Caleb 
Bailey, Paul 
Bates, Clement 
Baites, Seth 

Baker, 

Baker, Bradford 

Baker, Kenelm 

Baker, Windsor 

Baldwin, Samuel 

Barker, Barnabas 

Barker, David 

Barker, John 

Barker, William 

Barrell, James 

Barrell, William 

Barrell, Colburn 

Barrall, William 

Barrall, James 

Barral, William 

Barrel, Noah 

Barstow, Nathaniel 

Barstow, Thomas 

Bates, Alex (seaman) 

Bates, Alex (soldier) 

Bates, Clement 

Bates, Guy (name 5 times) 

Bates, Reuben 

Bates, Seth 

(266 



Bates, Lemuel 
Beals, Isaac 
Belcher, Ebenezer 
Benson, Joseph 
Barstow, James 
Briggs, Abner 
Bryant, Elijah 
Bryant, Zina 
Bonney, Isaac 
Bonney, Jonathan 

, Neil, Scituate 

Bourne, Shearjashub 
Bowan, Calvin 

Bowen, 

Bowker, Bartlet 

Bowker, David 

Bowker, Gershom 

Bowker, John, Jr. 

Bowker, J. 

Bowker, L. (twice) 

Bowker, Windsor 

Bosworth, Eli 

Briggs, B. 

Briggs, D. 

Briggs, Joseph (several 

times) 
Briggs, Thomas 
Briggs, William 
Brooks, Nathaniel (twice) 
Brooks, Joseph 
Brooks, Philip 
Brooks, William 
Brown, Isaac 
Brown, John 

) 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 267 



Brown, Jonathan 
Brown, Joseph 
Brown, Knight 
Brown, Samuel (twice) 
Brown, S. 
Brown, Thomas 

Bryant, 

Bryant, Jno. 
Bryant, Joshua 
Bryant, J., Jr. 
Bryant, Lynde 
Bryant, Samuel 
Buker, Calvin 
Buker, David 
Buker, Joshua (twice) 
Buker, William 
Burgess, John 



Comset, James (Inciian) 
Capham, Thomas 
Corlew, Daniel 
Carlisle, William 
Corlew, W. 
Carey, Joshua 
Caslew, Darius 
Castle, Darius 
Caswell, Darius 
Child, Daniel 
Chittenden, Isaac (twice) 
Chittenden, Luther 
Chittenden, Nathaniel 

(twice) 
Chittenden, Gideon 
Church, Nathaniel 
Church, Thomas 
Clapp, Abiah 
Clapp, Abijah 
Clapp, Dwelly 
Clapp, Earl 
Clapp, John 
Clapp, John, Jr. 
Clapp, Michael 
Clapp, William 
Clapp, Abijah, Jr. 



Clapp, Bcla 
Clapp, Galen 
Clapp, John (4 times) 
Clapp, Joshua 
Clapp, Samuel 
Cole, George 
Colamore, Benjamin 

(5 times) 
Colamore, Anthony 

(4 times) 
Colamore, Benjamin, Jr. 

Colamore, — ■ 

Colamore, Anthony, Jr. 
Colamore, Enoch, Sergeant 
Colamore, Enoch, Private 
Colamore, Thomas 
Colamore, B. 
CoUamore, Anthony 
Collamore, Benjamin 

(twice) 
Collamore, Thomas 
Collier, Isaac (3 times) 
Collier, Jon. 
Collins, Joseph 
Comset, Joshua (Indian) 
Cook, Robert, Jr. 
Cook, Robert 
Copeland, Wm. 
Coplin, Ebenezer 
Corlew, Daniel 
Corthell, Theophilus 
Cowen, Jehiel 
Cowen, John 
Cowen, Gathelus 
Cowen, Israel 
Cudworth, Israel 
Cudworth, John 
Cudworth, Zephaniah 
Cushing, James (twice) 
Carlisle, William 
Curtis, Reuben 
Curtis, Abner 
Curtis, Benjamin 
Curtis, Charles 
Curtis, Eli 



268 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 



Curtis, 
Curtis, 
Curtis, 
Curtis, 
Curtis, 
Curtis, 
Curtis, 
Cushin 
Cushin 
Cushin 
Cushin 
Cushin 
Cushin 
Cushin 
Cushin 



Elisha 

Gamaliel 

Peleg 

Peleg, Jr. 

Samuel 

Thomas 

William 
g, Adam 
g. Barker 
g, Edward 
g, Elmer 
g. Hawks 
g, John, Jr. 
g, Nathaniel 
g. Pickles 

D 



Delano, Benjamin (twice) 
Damon, Daniel 
Damon, Calvin 
Damon, Ells (3 times) 
Damon, John (twice) 
Damon, Josiah, Jr. 
Damon, Samuel (twice) 
Damon, Simeon (3 times) 
Damon, Stephen 
Damon, Stephen, Jr. 
Damon, Sylvanus 
Damon, Zadoc 
Damon, Reuben 
Damon, Josiah 
Delano, Elijah 
Dingley, Elkanah 
Dingley, Levi 
Doggett, Ebenezer 
Doroty, John 
Dotens, W. 
Dunbar, Amos 
Dunbar, Daniel 
Dunbar, David (11 times) 
Dunbar, David, Jr. 
Dunbar, Enoch 
Dunbar, Ezekiel 
Dunbar, Hosea 
Dunbar, Jessee 



Dwelley, Abner 
Dwelley, William 
Dwellie, Jedediah 
Dwellie, Abner 
Dwellie, John 
Dwelly, Joshua 



Eddy, Ebenezer (twice) 
Edwards, Daniel 
Ells, Nathaniel 
Ells, Samuel 
Elems, Jonathan 
Elems, Benjamin 
Ellms, John 
Ellms, Joseph 
Ellms, Jonathan 



Farrow, Thomas 
Frary, George 
Fish, Charles 
Fish, Isaac 
Fish, Stephen 
Ford, Micah 
Ford, W^illiam 
Ford, David 
Foster, Elisha 

H 

Hallowell, Jonathan 
Hammond, Bela 
Hammond, Benjamin 

(R.A.— Royal Americans) 
Hammond, David 
Hammond, Experience 
Hammond, Frederick 

(16 years) 
Hammond, William 
Hatch, Benjamin, Sergeant 
Hatch, John 
Hatch, Josiah 
Hatch, Prince 
Hatchey, Joseph (deserter) 
Hathaway, Josiah 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 269 



Hause, John, Lieutenant 
Hayden, Daniel 
Hayden, Elisha 
Hayden, Ezra 
Hayden, Joseph 
Hayden, Perez (17 years) 
Hayden, William 
Henley, John (a foreigner) 
Henley, William 
Hersey, Elisha 
Hiland, Amasa 
Hiland, William 
Hinds, x'\biah 
Hinds, Abiel 
Holbrook, Isaiah 
Holbrook, Josiah 
Holbrook, Luther 
Holmes, Thomas, Corporal 
Holmes, Benjamin 
Holmes, Nathaniel 
Hopkins, Richard 
House, Abner (R. A.) 
House, Joseph 
House, Nathaniel 
House, Peleg (R. A.) 
Humphries, John (twice) 
Humphrey, Richard 
Hyland, Abner 
Hyland, Amasa 
Hyland, Benjamin 
Hyland, Benjamin, Jr. 

(R. A.) 
Hyland, Samuel 
Hyland, W^illiam 



acobs, Aesop 

acobs, Elli 

acobs, James, Corporal 

acobs, John, Colonel 

acobs, Joshua, Lieutenant 

ames, Elisha, Sergeant 

ames, Thomas 

effrey, James 

enkins, Caleb (R. A.) 



enkins, Daniel 
enkins, Edward 
enkins, Joseph (R. A.) 
enkins, Samuel 
enkins, Calvin 
enkins, Gera 
enkins, Gideon 
enkins, James 
enkins, Joshua (R. A.) 
enkins, Nathaniel 
ones, Ezekiel 
ones, Benjamin 
ones, Dearing 
ones, William 
ones, William, Jr. 
ordan, David 
ordan, Nathaniel 
Joy, Elisha 

K 

Keen, Joshua 
King, John 
Knowles, Amasa 



Lambert, Isaac 
Lambert, Zacheus 
Lambert, Zachariah 
Lapham, Amos 
Lapham, Elisha (R. A.) 
Lapham, James 
Lapham, Lemuel 
Lapham, Nathaniel 
Lapham, Thomas 
Lazell, John 
Lincoln, James 
Lincoln, John 
Lincoln, Mordecai 
Lincoln, Solomon 
Lincoln, William 
Litchfield, Charles 
Litchfield, Abner 
Litchfield, Amos 
Litchfield, Barnabas 



270 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 



Litchfield, 


Caleb 


Litchfield, 


Daniel 


Litchfield, 


Eleazer 


Litchfield, 


Elisha 


Litchfield, 


Ephraim 


Litchfield, 


Experience 


Litchfield, 


Ezekiel 


Litchfield, 


Francis 


Litchfield, 


Isaac 


Litchfield, 


Israel 


Litchfield, 


James 


Litchfield, 


James, Jr. 


Litchfield, 


tob (R. A.) 


Litchfield, 


John (R. A.) 


Litchfield, 


John, Jr. 


Litchfield, 


Joseph 


Litchfield, 


Josiah 


Litchfield, 


Lawrence 


Litchfield, 


Lot 


Litchfield, 


Lothrop 


Litchfield, 


NathanieKR.A.) 


Litchfield, 


Nathaniel, Jr. 


(R.A.) 




Litchfield, 


Nickles 


Litchfield, 


Noah (R. A.) 


Litchfield, 


Rowland, Cor- 


poral 




Litchfield, 


Samuel (R. A.) 


Litchfield, 


Ward (R. A.) 


Litchfield, 


Daniel (R. A.) 


Loring, W 


illiam 



M 

Man, Jonathan (R. A.) 

Man, Josiah 

Man, Josiah, Jr. 

Man, Levi 

Man, Nathaniel 

Manson, John (R. A.) 

Manson, Nehemiah 

Mayhew, Lemuel, or 
Samuel 

Mayhew, or Mayo, William 

McCarty, James (a tran- 
sient) 



McGovern, Seth 
Merritt, Joshua 
Merritt, Jonathan 
Merritt, David 
Merritt, George 
Merritt, Nehemiah 
Merritt, Amos 
Merritt, Consider 
Merritt, Daniel 
Merritt, John 
Merritt, Melzar 
Merritt, Noah 
Merritt, Seth 
Merritt, Paul 
Mitchell, John 
Morris, William (19 years 

in 1777) 
Morton, George 
Morton, George, Jr. (R. A.) 
Mott, Attwood 
Mott, Micah 



N 
Nash, Abel 
Nash, Church 
Nash, Israel 
Nash, James 
Nash, Joseph 
Nash, Noah 
Nash, Thomas 
Neal, Job 
Nichols, Noah 
Nicholson, William (aged 

18) 
Nickerson, Joseph 
Nicherson, or Nicholson, 

Mark (aged 21) 
Nichols, Caleb 
Nichols, Samuel 
Northey, David (aged 22) 
Northey, Eliphalet 
Northey, Eliphalet, Jr. 
Northey, James 
Northey, Robert 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 271 



O 

Oakman, Amos 

Gates, Asher (died 1778) 

Orcutt, Seth 

Osborn, Peleg 

Otis, Charles 

Otis, Barnabas 

Otis, Captain, Ensi2;n 

(R.A.) 
Otis, James 
Otis, Josiah (surgeon) 
Otis, Noah 



Paine, Jonathan 

Palmer, Ephraim, Sergeant 

Patrick, Edmund 

Patten, John 

Peakes, Benjamin, Ser- 
geant (R. A.) 

Peakes, Eleazer, Corporal 

Pearce, Sylvanus, Corpo- 
ral, Fifer 

Peirce, Augustus 

Peirce, Calvin, Lieutenant 

Peirce, Ezekiel 

Peirce, Capt. Hayward, or 
Howard 

Peirce, Matthew 

Peirce, Robert 

Peirce, Rowland 

Perry, Israel, Quartermas- 
ter 

Perry, Amos 

Pincheon, William (aged 
20) 

Pincheon, Benjamin 

Pincheon, or Pincin, Simeon 

Prouty, Joshua, Corporal 
(aged 27, died 1778) 

Prouty, Job 

Proutv, Bela 

Prouty, Caleb (R. A.) 

Prouty, David 

Prouty, James 



Prouty, Simeon (aged 30) 
Prouty, William 

R 

Ramsdell, Edmund 
Ramsdell, Samuel 
Randall, Elisha 
Randall, Charles 
Randall, Elijah 
Randall, Nehemiah 
Right, John 
Ripley, Joshua 
Rose, Laban 
Rose, Reuben 
Ruggles, Thomas 



Sampson, Nehemiah (mu- 
latto) 

Samson, Robert (foreigner) 

Sears, Peter 

Sears, Isaac (died Feb. 15, 
1778) 

Silvester, Elijah 

Silvester, Elisha 

Silvester, Israel 

Silvester, James (deserted 
1778) 

Silvester, Joel 

Silvester, Nathaniel 

Silvester, Thomas 

Simmons, Peleg 

Simmons, Barnabas 

Simmons, Bartholomew- 
Simmons, Ebenezer 

Simmons, Elisha 

Simmons, Samuel (R. A.) 

Southworth, Theophilus 

Sprague, Joshua 

Sprague, Laban 

Studley, Ammiel 

Studley, William 

Stetson, Benjamin 

Stetson, Christopher 

Stetson, Elijah 



272 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 



Stetson 


Elisha 


Stetson 


Ephraim 


Stetson, 


George 


Stetson, 


Gideon 


Stetson, 


Isaac 


Stetson, 


John 


Stetson, 


Jonah 


Stetson, 


Joseph 


Stetson, 


Matthew 


Stetson, 


Micah 


Stetson, 


Nathan 


Stetson, 


Samuel 


Stetson, 


Silas 


Stetson, 


Snow 


Stetson, 


Stephen 




T 


Turner, 


Abiel 


Turner, 


Abiezer 


Turner, 


Abner 


Turner, 


Asa 


Turner, 


Charles 


Turner, 


Consider 


Turner, 


David 


Turner, 


Dwelley 


Turner, 


Elijah 


Turner, 


Elisha 


Turner, 


Isaac 


Turner, 


Jacob, Lieutenant 


Turner, 


James 


Turner, 


Jonathan, Eieuten 


ant 




Turner, 


Nathaniel 



Turner, Peleg, Lieutenant 
Turner, Roland 
Turner, Simeon 
Turner, William, Colonel 
Turner, Winslow 



Vassall, Benjamin, Lieu- 
tenant 

Vinal, Benjamin (R. A.) 

Vinal, Calogus 

Vinal, Joseph 

Vinal, Joseph, Jr. (R. A.) 

Vinal, Robert 

Vinal, Stephen (R. A.) 

Vinal, William, Lieutenant 
(R. A.) 

w 

Wade, Abednego 
Wade, Benjamin 
Wade, Issachar 
Wade, John 
Wade, lotham 
Wade, Snell 
Wade, Stephen 
Walker, William 
Waterman, Anthony 
Webb, Barnabas 
Webb, Paul 
Webb, Thomas 
West, Josiah 



Rangers 



Micah Stetson 
Wm. Pinchin 
Thomas Holmes 
Thomas Church 
Melzar Stodder 
John Lincoln 
Benja. Pinchin 
Joseph House 



Levi Pratt 

Silas Stetson 

David Turner 

David Jordan 

Joshua Comsett (Indian) 

Thomas Silvester 

Elisha Young 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 273 



Names of the Men of Scituate Who Loaned Money 
FOR Carrying on the War of the Revolution 
Copied from the Honor Roll of Massachusetts 
Patriots 

ChicJ Justice William dishing 



William James 
Barnabas Little 
Nehemiah Randall 
Thomas Silvester 



Caleb Torrey 
Seth Turner 
Nathaniel Waterman 



Capt. Hayward Peirce's Company in Camp 
AT Tiverton, R. L, October 27, 1777 



Capt. Hayward Peirce 
Left. Zephaniah Cudworth 
Left. Seth Josselyn 
Left. Elisha Foster 



Gathelus Cov/ing 
William Hammond 
Zaccheus Lambert 
Joseph Brooks 
Daniel Haydon 
Josiah Damon 
Noah Pratt 
Nathaniel Man 
James Whiting 
James Cushing 
Seth Bates 

Jonathan Merritt, Jr. 
Asa Taylor 
Obadiah Stodder 
Stephen Fish 
William Hyland 
Nathaniel Magoun 
Nehemiah Manson 
Nathaniel Torrey 
Laban Rose 
Joseph Turner 
Benjamin Tower 
Bartlett Bowker 



Sej'gt. William Curtis 
Sergt. William Brooks 
Sergt. Nathaniel Brooks 
Sergt. John Bowker 



Privates 

Caleb Litchfield 
John Litchfield 
Elisha Sylvester 
Benjamin Bowker 
Noah Merritt 
Elisha Stetson 
William Vinall 
Thomas Lincoln 
Abner Litchfield 
Jonathan Brown 
Japhet Crooker 
Robart Peirce 
Michael Frayne 
Jesse Curtis 
Elijah Gilbert 
Zadock Damon 
William Hayden 
Perry Haiden 
Elisha Randall 
Eleazer Litchfield 
John Litchfield, Jr. 
Josiah Man 
Elijah Curtis 



274 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 



Joseph Tolman 
Thomas Ruggles 
Nathaniel Josselyn, Jr. 
Eliphilet Northy 
Mordecai Lincon 
Seth Curtis 
Ishmael Buker 
Primus Ripley 
Robeart Cook 
Seth Curtis, Jr. 
Isaac Stetson 
James Barstow 
Isaiah Cushing 
Job Prouty 



Samuel Brooks 

Luther 

James Comsett (Indian) 
Lemuel Bates 
Eliphalet Northy, Jr. 
Amos Lapham 
Elisha Palmer 

Jonathan 

Joshua Dwelley 
Elijah Sylvester 
Joseph Nickerson 
Benjamin Jones 
Simeon Curtis 



William Hammond, Drummer Joseph Turner, Fifer 

Marched on a secret expedition to Tiverton, R. I. 



Copy of Names on the Payroll of the Company 
OF Royal Americans of the Town of Scituate, 
UNDER Command of the Field Officers of the 
Second Regiment of Plymouth County 

Three days' service; traveled 12 miles. January 1, 1776 

(Copied from Mass. Archives, Vol. 13.) 
Qapt. Ensign Otis Ensign Zepheniah Cudworth 

Left. William Vinal Sergt. Peleg House 



Privates 



Samuel Simmons 
Charles Fish 
George Morton, Jr. 
Zena Bryant 
Benjamin Woodworth 
Caleb Jenkins 
Bartholemew Simmons 
Josiah Damond, Jr. 
Ward Litchfield 
Joseph Vinal, Jr. 
Benjamin Vinal 
Isaac Collier 
Joshua Jenkins 
Nathaniel Litchfield 



Samuel Mahew 

Reuben Bates 

Caleb Prouty 

Ezekiel Dunbar 

Nathaniel Litchfield, Jr. 

John Manson 

Abner House 

John Litchfield 

Ephraim Litchfield 

Josiah Mann 

Elijah Bryant 

Eli Curtis 

Gideon Chittenden 

Samuel Litchfield 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE REVOLUTION 275 

Stephen Vinal Job Litchfield 

Benjamin Hyland, Jr. Benjamin Peakes 

Noah Litchfield John Cudworth 

Joseph Jenkins Abner Briggs 

Joshua Spriggs Benjamin Hammond 

Robert Cook, Jr. Elisha Lapham 



Index 



Abbie Bradford 

Abigail Haley 

Abraham 

Acadians, The 

Accord Pond 

Active 

Adams, Abigail 

Adams House, Quincy 

Adams, James 

Adams, John 

Adams, Samuel 

Adet, M. 

Adventure 

Agnes R. Bacon 

Alabama 

Albeson, Nicholas 

Albion 

Alderney 

Allen Associates 

Allen, Martin 

Allen Memorial Librarv 

Allen, Rev. Morrill 

Allen, William P. 

Allen's Hall 

Almatia 

Ambrose Cole House 

America 

American Total Abstinence 

Society 
Ancient Colonial Boundary 
Annable, Anthony 3, 99, 
Annie Davis 
Anti-slavery 
Antoine, Joseph 
"Army of Two" 
Asa Eldridge 
Asbury, Francis 
Assinippi 
Assinippi Pond 
Assinippi Trail 
Attila 

Attleboro Gore 
August 
Austin, Ann 

Aylwin, Hannah Phillips 
Aylwin, William Cushing 



PAGE 

149 

253 

153 

78 

5, 69, 236 



256 

49 

34 

32 

32, 53 

48 

48 

151 

256 

149 

11 

151 

259 

85 

256 

159 

103 

103 

206 

158 

112 

150 

173 

69 
120 

251 

174 

240 

144 

161 

186 

217 

236 

101 

245 

25 

250 

72 

50 

54 

(2 



" PAGE 

Bacon, Edward R. Ill 

Bailey, Abigail 118 

Bailev, Amasa 118, 219 

Bailev Farm 85 

Bailev, George W. 199 

Bailey, HenrV Turner 208, 262 

Bailey, John 82, 85 

Bailey, Joseph Tilden 137 

Bailey, Mercy 212 

Bailey, Thomas Otis 118 

Bailev, Thomas Tilden 196 

Baker, Rev. Frank R. 192 

Balch, Sarah 112 

Bald Hills 149, 150 

Baldwin, Rev. Samuel 215 

Ballou, Rev. G. W. 191 

Ballou, Rev. Hosea 185 

Baptist Church 136, 209 

Barb 245 

■cBarker, Benjamin 85 

Barker Farm 95 

Barker, Hannah 95 

Barker, Jacob 150 

Barker, Otis 86, 259 

Barker, Robert 150 

Barker, Samuel 95 

Barker, Samuel P. 85, 86 

Barker, Capt. Williams 85 

Barker, Williams 85 

Barker's Cove 252 

Barker's Lane 84 

Barnard, James H. 128 
Barnes, Rev. David 

124, 129, 171, 172, 173,181 

Barrell, James 154 

Barry, Rev. John S. 21, 185 
Barry's "History of Hanover" 1 83 

Barstow, Capt. Elisha 148 

Barstow, Joseph 18 

Bartlett, Rev. Mr. 199 

Bartow, Rev. H. K. 209 

Bassing Cove 248 

Bates, Abigail 145 

Bates, Harvey 65 

Bates, John 187 

Bates, Joseph S, 148 

77) 



278 INDEX 

PAGE PAGE 

Bates, Joshua 265 Brick Kiln Yard 156 

Bates, Rev. I.. B. 200, 201 Brig^s, B. W. 157 158 

Bates, Rebecca 145 Briggs, Charles C. 119' 156 

Bates, Capt. Simeon 145 Briggs-Collier House ' 86 

Bates Thonias 265 Briggs, Cornelius 9? 

Bear Grass Fort 106 Briggs, Gushing O. Is6 

Beaver Dam Road 114 Briggs, Frances 91 

Belcher, Andrew 151 Briggs, Hannah 9^ 

Be e House 30 Briggs, Henry ng 

Belle House Neck 36, 52, 55, 59, Briggs James 

. 60, 63 98, 125, 126, 170 90, 92, 154, 155, 156, 219 

Bemis, Rev. Nathaniel 188, 190 Briggs, James S 157 198 

Bennett, John W. 240 Briggs, John 90 9^ 

Berry, Charles A. 101 Briggs, Joseph ' 90 

^"•^'^ 253 Briggs, Judith 90 

g^^V ,, 1-^2 Briggs, Lucv and Sally 156 

Bigelow, Mr. 48 Briggs, Luther 158 

Big House 'The 204 Briggs, Dr. L. Vernon 101 

Bingham Mr. and Mrs. 48 Briggs, Matthew (Mathvas) 

Bisbee, Flisha 66 ' 93 ti 

Bisbee's Ferry 66 Briggs, Thomas B. 119, 'l56 

Blackmore, William 11, 138 Briggs, Walter 

Black Pond 236 24, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95 

Back Pond Road 82 Briggs, Wm. T. 1 S6 

Black Thome 150 Briggs Yard 153 

Blessings of the Bay 148 Brockwell, Rev. Charles 180 

01 S House 9, 99, 110, 226 Bronson, Noah 64 

B ock House Field 9 Brooks, Adam 77 

Block House Shipyard 152 Brooks, Gilbert ^3 

Bonney, Edward H. 123 Brooks, William \\ 

u °"u' P/'^'f^ ^06 Brooks, William (Capt.) 1^7 

g°°^^, Abraham 136 Brown, Capt. George 

Booth Hill 136, 232, 234 990 ^57 959 

Bordeaux 247 Brushv Hill 29, 59 65 "97' 166 

Boston Conner 224 Bryant-Cushing House ' ' 109 

Boston News Letter 62 Brvant, David ^1 

Boston Rubber Cement Co. 221 Bryant, Gridley 136 

Boston Weekly News Letter 102 Brvant, Gridlev J F 137 

Boundaries 5 Bryant, John, jr. (Lieut.) 

Dound Brook iqi 91/^ ^,q 

59,88,104,105,196,216 Brvant, John, Sr. '" '^^ 

Bound Brook Press 199 ' 11,101,110,216 

Bound Rock 69, 71 Brvant, John, 3d 214 

Bourne, Rev. Shearjashub Bryant, Lemuel (Rev.) Ill 

r. . w 165,177 Bryant, Marv HO 

Bouve, Mary 192 Bryant, Ruth HO 

Bowers, Capt. Henry 212 Bryant, Thomas (Dea.) 1 10, 216 

Bowers, Henry, Jr. 227 Bryant, Zina 137 

Bowker, James 101, 217 Bryant's Corner 62, 101, 125 

Bowker, Parsons 65 Bryant's Mil! 015 

Box Making 222 BrVant's Pond ^41 

g°y'V°"'Lucy 140 Buck, Cornet John fLieut.) 

Bradford, Alice 16 \\ 12 13 

Bradford, Gov. William 16, 226 Bucklvn, David ' 'l51 

Brewster, Jonathan 59 Bulfinch, Charles 154 

Brewster s Ferry 59 Bulfinch, Dr. Thomas 154 



INDEX 



279 



Bulwark 
Bumpas, John 
Burke, Isaac 
Burke, Martin 
Burrell, Benjamin 
Buttonwood Hill 
Byrd, Goodman 



PAGE 

144 
11 

256 
206 
223 
~U 

2 



Caldwell, John 38 

Callender, George 251 

Campbell, John 61 

Canonchett 8 
Capt. Stephen Otis House 103 

Capt. Travere 6 

Carman, Bliss 225 

Caroline 1 6 1 

Carroll, Margaret 206 
Cedar Point 

143, 247, 250, 255, 259, 260 

Champion 245 

Chapman, Ralph 59 
Chauncev, Rev. Charles 

31, 164, 169 

Chest Ledge 257 

Cheverus, Bishop 203 

Chew, Mr. 48 

Chicatabutt, Josias 17 
Chief Justice Cushing Chap. 

164 

Chisholm v. Georgia 41, 46 

Chittenden, Isaac 12 

Chittenden Shipyard 151, 152 

Chittenden, Thomas 28 

Christ Church, Quincy 178 
Christian Endeavor Soc. 200 

Church Hill 28, 29, 178, 179 

Church History 162 

Church of the Nativity 206 

Church, Nathaniel 148 

Church, Samuel 215 

Claremont 259 

Clark 6e Hart Shipyard 1 57 

Clarke, Wm. 16 

Clap, Augustus 63 

Clap, Benjamin 212 

Clap, Constant 215 

Clap & Curtis Mills 215 

Clap, Elizabeth 98 

Clap, Hannah 108 

Clap, John 220 

Clap, John (Capt.) 27, 213 

Clap, Joseph 82, 151 

Clap, Nathaniel B. 102 

Clap, Rachel 139 



PAGE 

Clap, Samuel (Capt.) 

27, 101, 213 

Clap, Stephen (Dea.) 101, 102 

Clap, Sylvanus 103 

Clap, Thomas 212 

Clap, Thomas (Pres.) 101, 102 

Clapp, Chandler 264 

Clapp, Charles 64 

Clapp, Elijah 212 

Clapp, Franklin B. 212 

Clapp, Harvey 212 

Clapp Mansion 63 
Clapp, Mary L. 

63, 204, 207, 264 

Clapp Rubber Mill 61 

Cliff, First 250 

Cliff, Fourth 237, 238 

Cliff, Third 2 

Cliffs, The 236 

Clio 250 

Clio 259 

Clipper Ships 160 

Cobb, Henry 3 

Cohasset Road 59 

Cold Water Army, The 174 

Cole, Ambrose 112 

Cole, Andrew 158 

Cole, Augustus 220 

Cole, David 112, 141 

Cole Farm 4 

Cole, Frederic T. 166 

Cole, Jane 113 

Cole, Mary Ann 113 

Cole, William 112, 141 
Collamore, Capt. .'\nthonv 

6, 58, 245 

Collamore's Ledge 58, 245 

Collier, Ann 91 

Collier, Isaac 91 

Collier, James 91 

Collier, Mary 91 

Collier, Thomas 91 

Collier, William 91 

Colman, Joseph 246 

Colman, Capt. Moses 161, 261 
Colman's Hills 

2, 28, 29, 30, 233 

Columbia 153 

Columbia 242, 259 

Columbia Rediviva 154, 155 

Columbia River 154 

Columbian Sentinel 223 

Committee of Safety 181 

Communion Silver 264 

Conant, Rev. Thomas 196, 198 

Conihasset Grants 2, 23 



280 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Conihasset Hall 232 

Conihasset Partners 66, 103, 211 
Constantia 246 

Constitution 130 

Constitutional Post-office 62 

Cook, Capt. Ichabod 160 

Cook, John 160 

Cook, Samuel 160 

Cooper, Rev. Joseph 192 

Copeland, Ebenezer 28 

Copeland, Huldah 28 

Copeland, Joseph 28 

Copeland, William 148 

Copley Portraits 85 

Copper Corner 109, 123, 129 

Cordelia 245 

Cordwood Hill 29 

Cornet's Mill 10, 14, 17 

Cornet's Purchase 17 

Cottle, Charles 220 

Cotton, John 36, 171 

Country Way 16, 59, 134, 140 
Cowen, John 24 

Craigie-Longfellow House 34 
Cricket Hole 82 

Cromwell, Oliver 84 

Crown Point 107 

Cudworth, Dea. Abiel 195, 200 
Cudworth, Elijah 152 

Cudworth House 135 

Cudworth, James (Capt.) (Gen.) 
7, 13, 22, 24, 73, 74, 90, 95, 
136, 195 
Cudworth, Mary 74 

Cudworth, Rev. Ralph 75 

Cudworth, Samuel Stillman 200 



Cudworth, Zephaniah 


135 


Cuffee's Lane 


82 


Cummings, Betty 


188 


Curtis, Andrew 


208 


Curtis, Benjamin 


215 


Curtis, Capt. Calvin 


215 


Curtis, Charles 


181 


Curtis Crossing 


61 


Curtis, Capt. Edward 


215 


Curtis, Elijah 


138, 139 


Curtis Hill 


11 


Curtis, James 


100, 158 


Curtis, John 


11 


Curtis, Luther 


29 


Curtis Mills 


215 


Curtis, Paul 


100 


Curtis, Samuel 


151 


Curtis, Shadrack (Mrs.) 


205 


Curtis, William 


11 


Cushing 


156 



PAGE 

Cushing, Abigail 37 

Cushing, Alice 126 

Cushing, Charles 36, 54 

Cushing, Chief Justice 

35, 38, 40, 76 
Cushing, Christopher 126 

Cushing, Clarissa 111 

Cushing, George, Jr. 125 

Cushing, George, Sr. 125 

Cushing, George King 125 

Cushing, George, 4th 125 

Cushing, Grafton D. 46 

Cushing, Hawke 111,216 

Cushing, Hayward P. 127 

Cushing Homesteads 124 

Cushing, H. W. (Dr.) Ill, 125 
Cushing, Jeremiah (Rev.) 165 
Cushing, John 

22, 33, 36, 55, 125, 126, 149 
Cushing, John, 4th 34, 55 

Cushing, Joseph 125 

Cushing, Joseph, Jr. (Dea.) 

55, 111 
Cushing, Josiah 216 

Cushing, Judge John 63 

Cushing, Judge John, 2d 52, 172 
Cushing, Judge Nathan 

37, 65, 63, 125, 127 
Cushing, Judge William 

36^, 41, 42, 53, 56, 63 
Cushing, Madam Hannah 

37,41,46,53,212,227 
Cushing Mansion, The 52 

Cushing, Matthew 36 

Cushing Memorial 45 

Cushing, Nathan 126 

Cushing, Nathaniel 126 

Cushing, Pickles 130, 216 

Cushing, Ruth 111 

Cushing, Zeba 196 

Cutler, Rev. Timothy 

176, 177, 178 

D 

Dallin, Cyrus 46 

Damon, Daniel E. 177 

Damon, Franklin 190, 198 

Damon, Galen, Jr. 219 

Damon, Galen, Sr. 219 

Damon, Galen, Mill 219, 

Damon, Capt. James 160 

Damon, Lieut. Zachary 176, 177 
Dana Family 54 

Davenport, Rev. Addington 

179, 180 



INDEX 



281 



PAGE 

Davis, Elizabeth Thaxter 228 
Davis Point 251,255 

Dawes, Rev. Ebenezer 166 

Deacon Hatherlv Foster 

House ■ ^ 107 

Deacon Litchfield's Point 252 
Deacon Stephen Clap House 101 
Dead Swamp 62 

Deane, Rev. Samuel 

130, 172, 173 
Deane's "Historv of Scituate" 

173, 188 
Delano, Benjamin 
Delano, Edward F. 
Delano Familv Line 
Delano Hill 
Delano Mansion 
Delano, William 
Delano, William Hart 
De la Noye, Philip 
Delaware 
Derby Academy 
Derby, John 
Derby, Madam 
De Riiyter 
Desire 
Devon urn 
Dispatch 
Doane, Col. 
Doane, Elisha, Jr. 
Doane, Horace 
Doggett, Capt. John 
Doggett's Ferry 



131 



76 
133 
131 
133 
130 
150 
' 133 
132 
246 
97, 121 
155 

97 
257 
154 
260 
246 

42 

42 
107 

59 
59, 63, 64 



Doherty, Rev. Manassas 205 

Doherty, Mary 206 

Donnell, William Gushing 50 
Dorbv, Rev. Jonathan 171, 172 

Dorr,' Capt. 245 

Dorr, Rev. Harvey E. 192 

Dr. Barnes Parsonage 129 

Dr. Cashing Otis House 127 

Dr. Elisha James House 137 

Dr. Ephraim Otis House 121 

Dr. Isaac Otis House 118 

Driftway, The 141 

Drinkwater 10 

Drinkwater Mill 18 

Driscoll, Patrick 205 

Dui/in 247 

DufFy, Mary Ellen 205 

Dunbar House 122 
Dunbar, Jesse 122,220,264 

Dunbar Store 158 

Dunbar's Mill 220 

Dunham, Isaac 240 

Dunster, Rev. Henry 164 



PAGE 

Duxbury & Cohasset R. R. 65 

Dwellev's " Historv of Hanover" 

182 



Early Artists 226 

Early Industries 27 

Early Poets 223 

Earlv Settlement 1 

Echo Lake 216 

Edit/i 160 

Edson, Edward 257 

Edson, George 260 

Edward 245 

Edward H. Norton 256 

Eells Field 126 
Eells, Rev. Nathaniel 

102, 111, 124, 171 

Eells Pear Tree 126 

Egan, Rev. J. P. 207 
Egypt 68, 235 

Eliza 157 
Elizabeth 248, 250 

Elizabeth 25 1 

Ellms, Charles 97 
EUms, Charles Otis 95, 103, 262 

Ellms, J. Otis 97 

Ellms, Rodolphus 23 

Elmwood 34 

Elsie Fay 254 

Emerson, Dr. 185 

Emigrations 5, 6 

Emily 254 

Emma W. Brown 259 

Emmons, Nathaniel 156 

Ensign, Thomas 23 

Enterprise 153 

Epworth League 192 
Ewell, Henry 7, 12, 76 

Ewell, Mary 110 



Fagan, Rev. Gerald 206 

Fairbanks, Richard 61 

Family of Judges, The 35 

Fanny Fern 257 
Farm Neck 87, 88, 163 

Farms, The 24 

Farrar, William 66 

Faulkner, Francis T. 241 

Federal George 245 

Ferguson, William 65 

"Field of Waterloo" 174 

Finley, Hugh 62 



282 



INDEX 



PAGE 

First Baptist Church 195 

First Church of Norwell 169 

First Cliff Beach 250 

First Parish 136 

First Parish Church 162 

Fish, Rev. William H. 175 

Fisher, Mary 72 

Fitzgerald, Richard 36 

Fletcher, Edward and Henry W. 
■ 157 
Flint, Lucy 194 

Florence 255 

Florence A. Zink 255 

Florow 265 

Flurries Rock 254 

Fogg, Mrs. Betsey 130 

Fogg, Ebenezer T. 130 

Fogg, Horace T. 130 

Ford, John J. 262 

Ford, Marv A. 64, 66 

Ford, Michael 148 

Ford, Peleg, M.D. 66 

Forest ^ueen 249 

Foss, Eugene N. 146 

Foster, Benjamin P. 64, 65, 219 
Foster, Edward 2, 3, 107 

Foster, Elisha (Lieut.) 107, 150 
Foster, Dea. Hatherly 

66, 107, 108 
Foster, John 66, 108 

Foster, Mary 108, 109 

Foster, Mary Louisa 227 

Foster, Samuel 151, 227 

Foster, Seth 64, 65, 126, 151 
Foster, Timothy 108, 170 

Foster, Turner 151 

Fourth Cliff 245, 246, 250 

Fourth Cliff Life-Sav. Sta. 

254, 258 
Fox, George 72 

Fox Hill Yard 148 

Frances Burr 247 

Francis 245 

Franciscan 150 

Franklin, Beniamin 62 

Franzen, Capt. 260, 261 

Frederick Tudor 257 

Freeman, John 19 

French Neutrals 79, 82 

Frye, Amy Allen 103 

Frve, Charles W. 223 

Fuller, Milton, M.D. 126 

Fuller, Rev. William A. 175 



G PAGE 

Gaffield, Mrs. Thomas 124, 170 

Gallagher, Father 204 

Gallup, Benjamin 150 

Garceau, Albert 135 

Garden Satin, The 51 
Gardiner-Greene Mansion 34 

Gardner, Jefferson 215 

Gardner, John , 200 

Garrisons 9 

Gaynor, Mary 205 

Geneva 250 

George Peabody 251 

George S. Bout-joell 259 

George Torrey's Hill 29 

Gillson, William 3, 210 

Glades Point 89 

Glades, The 241 

Globe 150 

Goddard, William 62 

Golden Fleece 160 

Gooch, Catherine 85, 86 

Goodwin, Timothy 62 

Gorham, Widow 190 

Governor Russell 260 

Grand Army Hall 196 

Granderson, Simeon 83 

Grand Pre 78 

Gray, Mrs. Anthony 198 

Great Storm of 1898 242 

Great Swamp 61 

Great Swamp Fight 8 

Green, James 109 

Green, Joseph Tilden 109 

Greenbush, The 210 

Gridley, Jeremy 36 

Grose, John 222 
Grosvenor, Rev. Ebenezer 165 

Groundsell Brook 217 

Gull Ledge 247, 248 

Gull Rock 241 

Gullv, The 242 

"Guiph,"^ The 88, 219 

Gunning's Point 250, 252 

Gutterson, John H. 133 

H 

Hackett, Charles 218 

Hackett, Joseph 218 

Hackett, Wallace 218 

Hackett's Pond 236 

Half-Way House 67 

Hammatt, William 50 
Hammatt, William Cushing 44 

Hancock, John 203 

Hanford, Lettice 107 



INDEX 



283 



PAGE 

Hannaford, Mrs. Phoebe 185 
Harriib, Isaac 221 

Hart, Capt. John 133 

Hart, Sarah 132 

Hartt, Edmund 130 

Hartt, Samuel 130, 150 

Harvest ^ueen 252 

Haskins, William 181 

Hatch, Capt. Crowell 155 

Hatch, Daniel 152 

Hatch, Jeremiah (Jeremv) 

23, 153 
Hatch, John 219 

Hatch, Samuel 134, 212 

Hatch, Turner 100 

Hatch, Walter 153 

Hatch, William 95 

Hatchet Rock 234 

Hatherly Inn 86 

Hatherlv Pear Tree 87 

Hatherly Road 88 

Hatherly, Timothy 1,2,3,4, 
6, 22, 23, 73, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 
107, 163, 169 
Hayden, Tamsen 91 

Hayes, Rutherford B. 116 

"Hazards," The 253 

Hazard, Thomas, Jr. 150 

Helen M. Foster 152, 216 

Henchman House 124 

Henchman's Corner 

29, 63, 124, 130 
Henderson Camp 243 

Herring Brook, First 

27, 210, 219, 221 
Herring Brook Hill 62, 66, 129 
Herring Brook, Second 

62, 75, 109, 151, 221 
Herring Brook, Third 

10, 17, 101, 214, 215, 220 
Hersey, Dr. Ezekiel 121 

Hersev, Rachel 121 

Hibben, Rev. H. B. 191 

Hibernia 247 

Hilliard, George S. 224, 227 

mio 149 

Hinckley Papers 12 

Hinckley, Thomas (Gov.) 16 
"History of Plymouth County" 

177 
Hoar, John 23, 24, 33 

Hobart, Israel 153 

Hobart's Landing 

58, 153, 154, 155 
Holbrook, Samuel 218 

Holland, Capt. Joseph 150 



PAGE 

Home Mission Society 200 
Hoop Pole Hill 29, 111, 124, 125 

Hope On 148 

Hoppin, Gov. 50 

Hotspur 254 

House, Samuel, Jr. 153 

Hovey, Richard 225 

Howland, Joseph 62 

Hubbard, Capt. Joshua 33 

Hudson, John 18 

Hull, Capt. John 60 
Humarock Beach 254, 255, 260 

Hummock Beach 247 

Hyland, John 246 



Indian Head River 61 

Indian Raid of 1676 7 

Ingham 161 

Ingham, Mary 224 
Ingham, Thomas 27, 224 

Interesting Bill of Sale 265 

Iris 156 

Isaac Carlton 255 



Jackson, Nancy 112 

Jackson, William 42 

Jacob, David (Dea.) 

26, 66, 134, 217 
Jacob, Edward 63 

Jacob, Eunice 134 

Jacob, John (Col.) 10,121 

Jacob, Joseph 82 

Jacob, Mary 133 

Jacob, Relief 66 

Jacobs, Dr. Henry Barton 

121, 217 
Jacobs Homestead 120 

Jacobs, Ichabod Richmond 121 
Jacobs, James 121 

Jacobs, Dr. Joseph 120, 217 

Jacobs, Joshua 120, 217 

Jacobs, Lemuel 141, 221 

Jacobs Mill 121,184,217 

Jacobs, Perez 26 

Jacobs Pond 29, 217 

Jacobs Tavern 66 

J. A. Jesuroon 160 

James, Benjamin 181 

James Bowker House 101 

James, Dr. Elisha 137, 138 

James, Elisha 226 

James, John H 



284 



INDEX 



PAGE 

James, Dea. John, 3d 100 

James, Josiah Leavitt 175 

James Library 175 

James, Rhoda 100 

James, Sarah 226 

James, Will 103 
James, William 152, 157 

James, William, Jr. 153 

Jay, Chief Justice 43 

Jenkins, Ambrose 189 

Jenkins Bridge 141 

Jenkins, Calvin 140 

Jenkins, Colman 141 

Jenkins, Davis 251 

Jenkins, D. Sanford 220 

Jenkins, Elijah 207 

Jenkins Farm 212 

Jenkins House 141 

Jenkins, Mrs. Laura A. 208 

Jenkins Ledge 251 

Jenkins Point 251 
Jennings, Rev. Allan G. 167, 168 

Jennison, Nathaniel 38 

Jenny Lind 248 

Jenny Mill 214 

Jericho Beach 229 
Jericho Road 84, 205 

Jewett, Rev. Paul 194 

Job Otis' Warehouse 103 

Job's Landing 58 

Joel Cook 254 

John Endicott 259 
Johnson, Sergt. Humphrey 21 

Jolly Tar 157 

Jonah's Mill 215 

Jonas H. French 261 

Jones, Capt. Ezekiel 161 

Jones Hill 222 

Jones, John 222 

Jordan, John 125 

Joshua Otis House 95 

Joy, Thomas 18 

Judge Cushing Memorial 60 
Judge Cushing Road 46, 60 

Judge Hathaway 250 

Judson, Rev. Adoniram 196 

Julia Lingley ISl 

June Bright 255 

J. W. Paige 158 

J. y J. Locke 256 



K 

Keith, Judge 221 

Kelton, Rev. William H. 199 

Kennebecke Plantation 16 





PAGE 


Kent, David 




157 


Kent, John 




157 


Kent, Samuel 




157 


Kent, Sarah E. E. 




101 


Kent Street 


3,4, 


167 


Kent Yard 




157 


Killam, Rev. Robert L. 




66 


King, Dea. George 


99, 


100 


King House, The 




98 


King, Lydia 


55, 


125 


King Philip's War 




101 


King, Dea. Thomas 




98 


King's Highway, The 




59 


King's Inn 




68 


King's Landing 




58 


Knapp, Jacob 




196 


Kronstadt 




156 



Ladies' Aid Society 191 

Ladies' Union 192 

Lady Madison 150 

Lafayette 250 

La Hogue 145, 149, 159 

Lawson, Rev. Deodate 171 

Lawson Flier, The 68 

Leddy, Rev. Peter 206 

Lee, George C. 199 

Leonard, Eliphalet 67 

Leonard, Rev. William 189 

"Leonard's" 68 

Le Vante 153 

Lewis, George 27 
Lexington Normal School 174 

Licking Creek 106 

Lighthouse Point 254, 257 

Light-Wing 256 

Lillie, Samuel 151 

Lincoln, Abraham 106 

Lincoln, Isaac 104, 106 

Lincoln, Jacob 105, 106 

Lincoln, John 106 

Lincoln Mills, The 105, 216 
Lincoln, Mordecai 

71, 104, 105, 216 

Lincoln, Sally 91 

Lincoln, Samuel 104 

Lincoln, Solomon 11 

Lincoln, Thomas 106 

Lincoln's Mill Pond 71 

Litchfield, Betsev 193 

Litchfield, Charles A. 219 

Litchfield, Davis 193 
"Litchfield Family in America" 

3 



INDEX 



285 



Litchfield, Capt. Joshua 
Litchfield, Josiah 
Litchfield, Mrs. Seth 
Litchfield, Dea. Ward 
Litchfield, Warren and Steph 

Little, Barnabas 

Little, Capt. David 

Little, Capt. James 66, 

Little, Jedediah 

Little, Mercy 

Little Musquashcut Pond 

Little Otis 

Little's Bridge 30, 

Lively 

Livermore, Rev. David 

Livermore, Marv A. 185, 

Long Beach ' 247, 248, 

Long Ledge 245, 253, 

Lord, Capt. 

Lothrop, Rev. John 

3, 4, 5, 163, 
Lothrop, Maj. Thomas 
Lovering, Hon. W. C. 
Lucy 

Lucy Graham 
Luddam's Ford 
Lunt, Hon. George 
Lydia 
Lynch, Edward 

M 



AGE 




PAGE 


247 


Manson, Capt. Nehemi 


ah 


159 


217 


Manson, Nehemiah, Jr. 




159 


188 


Manson, Thomas 




159 


193 


Manson, William 


159, 


160 


en 


Maracaibo 




253 


24 


Margaret's Brook 




219 


117 


Maria 




247 


116 


Mariposa 




160 


103 


Martha 




161 


64 


Martha Allen 


158, 


159 


117 


Martha Weeks 




253 


90 


Martin, John 




66 


157 


Mary 




152 


153 


Mary and Nancy 




151 


151 


Mary and Polly 




153 


222 


Mary Cabral 




260 


222 


Mary Emerson 




257 


252 


Mary E. Peirce 




249 


259 


Mary Kill em 




253 


251 


Massachusetts 




156 




Massachusetts Anti-Slavery 


So- 


164 


ciety 




173 


42 


Massachusetts Bay Co. 




148 


146 


Massachusetts Gazette 




102 


156 


Massachusetts Humane 


Societv 


254 


244,251,253,255,257 


259 


261 


61 


Massachusetts Path 




60 


224 


Matakeesett Path 




11 


152 


Matiana 




261 


206 


May Elms, The 


11 


138 




Mav, Joseph 




139 



Machell, Mary 


75 


Maddock, John 


208 


Madison, President 


43 


Magellan 


160 


Magnum 


258 


Magoon, Dea. .'\mbrose 


221 


Maine 


246, 247 


Maine Law 


252 


Man, Ensign 


25 


Man, Nathaniel 


24 


Man, Rebecca 


24 


Man, Richard 2 


3, 24, 25 


Man, Thomas 


9, 24 


Mann Hill 


23 


Mann, Horace 


174 


Mann, " Marm" 


25, 26 


Mann, Priscilla 


25, 26 


Manson, Capt. Edmund S. 160 


Manson, George 


159 


Manson, Joel Lincoln 


159 


Manson, Capt. John 


159 


Manson, Capt. John, Jr 




149, 


'l59, 160 



May, Rev. Samuel J. 

139, 173, 174, 175 
McDonough, Rev. William 207 
McSparren, Rev. J^imes 102 

M. E. Church at Church Hill 200 
Meeting-house Hill 171 

Meeting-house Lane 

4, 85, 163, 176, 224 
Mellen, Rev. Mr. 183 

Melzar Turner Yard 158 

Memorable Storms 239 

Men of Kent 2, 3, 162 

Merchant Adventurers 1 

Meridian 160 

Merritt, Asa 167 

Merritt, Billings H. 208 

Merritt, Frances .Adelaide 191 
Merritt, Henry 2, 152 

Merritt, Jonathan 264 

Merritt, Joseph 152 

Merritt, Joseph F. 215, 222 

Merritt, Joseph, 2d 216 

Merritt, Noah 151 

Merritt, Obadiah 151 

Merritt, Seth 264 



286 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Meteor 158 

Meteyard Marion 225 

Meteyard, Thomas 225 
Methodist Episcopal Church 186 

Mighill, Rev. Thomas 124, 170 

Military Discipline 7 

Miller, Rev. Ebenezer 178, 179 

Miller, Rev. R. C. 191 

Millerites, The 188 

Mills 210 

Miner, Rev. A. A. 185 

Minnie Rowan 257 
Minot's Ledge Lighthouse 

91, 144, 240, 248 

Montezuma 161 

Mora 250 
Mordecai Lincoln House 104 

Mordecai Lincoln Road 71 

More, Richard 23 

Morgan, F. H. 187 

Morton, Nathaniel 95 

Moseley, Rev. William O. 174 

Mossing 229 

Moulton, Robert 148 

Mt. Blue 29 

Mt. Blue Mill 217 

Mt. Hope, R. L 13, 85 

Mt. Hope Shingle Mill 218 

Mt. Vernon 150 

Mt. Vernon 250 

Mungo's Corner 219 

Murphy, John F. 205 

Murphy, Mary Kane 205 

Murphy, Patrick 205 

Murray, Rev. John 185 

Musquashcut Farm 88 

Musquashcut Harbor 89 
Musquashcut Pond 

24, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 242 

Musquashcut River 218 



N 

Nancy 157 

Nanemackeuitt 17, 214 

Nantasket 260 

Narragansett Church 102 

Narragansett Fight 8 

Nash, John ^ 126, 130 

Nash, John K. 63 

Nash, Joseph 120,152 

Nash, Mary L. F. 227 

Nathaniel Cogswell 252 

Nausett _ 258 

Navigation 159 



12 



PAGE 

11, 63 

n, 53 

29 
156 
118 

59 
152 
223 

24 
153 
250 
, 224 
' 223 
166 
147 
245 
238 
251 
191 
149 



Neal Gate 

Neal Gate Road 

Neil, John 

New Bedford 

Newcomb, Edgar A. P 

New Harbor Marshes 

New Sally 

New York Mirror 

Nichols, Lucy Peirce 

Nichols, Thomas 

Northern Light 

Northey, John 

Northey, Joseph 

North Meeting-house 

North River 

North River Bridge Yard 

North River, New Mouth 

Norwell Farm 

Nutter, Rev. Charles S. 

Ny7nph 

O 

Oakman's Ferry 64 

O'Brien, Miles 204 

Ocean Monarch 248 

Oceanus 258 

O'Connell, Cardinal 207 

Oglethorpe 161 

Old Braintree 178 

Old Carpenter 157 

Old Col. Boundary Com- 
mission 69, 70, 71 
Old Colony Line 69, 70 
Old Colony Railroad 64 
Old Curtis Yard 
Old Lighthouse at Scituate 

Harbor 
Old North Church, Boston 
Old Oaken Bucket 195, 224 

Old Oaken Bucket Pond 236 

Old Parsonaee 123, 129, 163 

Old Pond 11,214 

Old Sloop 166, 167, 168 

Oliver, Elizabeth 34 

Oracle 

Organ Society, The 
Orient 

O'Riley, John 
Oscar 

Osher Rocks 
Otis, Abigail 
Otis, Abigail Brooks 
Otis, Abigail Cushing 
Otis, Abigail T. 
Otis, Abijah 



151 

143 
176 



157 
192 
149 
205 

248 

231 

97 

103 

56 

56, 128 

158 



INDEX 



287 



Otis 


Charles 




118 


Otis 


Dr. Gushing 


56, 


128 


Otis 


Daniel 


"7, 


122 


Otis 


Edwin 


158, 


220 


Otis 


Ellms' Beach 




252 


Otis 


Ensign 




218 


Otis 


Ensign, 3d 




103 


Otis 


Dr. Ephraim 




121 


Otis 


George 




137 


Otis 


George Washington 


96 


Otis 


Hannah 




129 


Otis 


Harriet 




128 


Otis 


Howland 




220 


Otis 


Howland & Ed 


win 


239 


Otis 


Dr. Isaac 118,119, 


127 


Otis 


James 


48, 


128 


Otis 


Dr. James 




119 


Otis 


Mavor James 




96 


Otis 


Job' 




157 


Otis 


John 


117, 


118 


Otis 


Joseph 




117 


Otis 


Joseph C. 


219, 


262 


Otis 


Joshua 


95, 97, 


118 


Otis 


Joshua, Jr. 




96 


Otis 


Mary 




97 


Otis 


Mary Greene 




122 


Otis 


Mary Thaxter 




97 


Otis 


Rachel Hersev 




121 


Otis 


Sally 




97 


Otis 


Sarah Harris 




122 


Otis 


Silas 




118 


Otis 


Capt. Stephen 


29,95 


"Oil 


tlines of History 


" Wells 


39 



Pacific 151 

Packet 152 

Paine, Charles Cashing 39 

Paine, Sarah 54 

Palmer, Benjamin 180 

Palmer, John 29, 148 

Palmer, John, Jr. 148 

Parker, Jones & Co. 64 

Parker Lane 141 

Parker, Rev. Samuel 182 

"Parsonage Row" 130 

Parsonage, South Parish 130 

Parsons, Esther 50 

Parsons, Theophilus 42 

Parsons, Dr. Thomas W. 224 

Past Geography of Scituate 231 

Patent Line (Patten Line) 69 

Peakes (Pakes), William 23 

Peggotty Beach 229 



P. 



PAGE 

Peirce, Calvin 218 

Peirce, Elijah 66 

Peirce, Elisha 218 

Peirce Farm 24 

Peirce, Capt. Hay ward 66, 91 

Peirce, Capt. Michael 8, 25, 66 

Peirce, Silas 235 

Peirce's Building Yard 218 

Peirce's Mill 218 

Perry, Capt. 250 

Perry, William 8 

Perse 

Peruvian 

Peters, Gorham 

Phelan, Rev. M. J. 

Philbrook, Rev. Nathan 

Phillips, Esther 

Phillips, George 

Phillips, Hannah 

Phoebe 

Pincin Lane 

Pinckney, Mary 

Pine Tree Hill 

Pintard, John Marden 

Pintard, Lewis, & Co. 

Pitcher, Rev. Nathaniel 

Plymouth Coast Road 

Point Judith Neck 

Polycarp 

Portland 

Post Roads and Taverns 

Power, Arthur L. 

Power, Mrs. Arthur L. 

Pownalborough 

Pratt, Elias 

Pratt, Harvey H. 

Prence, Gov. Thomas 

Prentiss, Mrs. Henrietta 

President's Bridge 

Priscilla 

Prospect Hill 

Prouty, Edward or Isaac 

Prouty, John E. O. 

Puffer, Rev. Stephen 

Pulling, Capt. John 

Puritan 



Quaco 

Quakers in Scituate 

Queen Ann 

Queen Ann's Corner 

Queen Ann's Turnpike 

Quincy, Samuel 

Quonahassett 



246 
151 
260 
207 
201 

46 

46 

37, 46 

153 

98 

49 
179 
155 
155 
165 

59 

60 
248 
242 

58 
140 
227 

36 

148 

146 

16, 73 

208 

34 
156 
235 
151 
220 
188 

97 
258 



38,39 
72 
67 
67 
64 
156 
232 



288 



INDEX 



PAGE 
151 

99 

11, 99 

160 

8 

97 

!9, 220 

218 

121 

121 

121 

121 

114 

205 

73 

163 

10 

202 



73, 



R 

Randall, Job 
Rawlins, Nathaniel 
Rawlins, Thomas 
Rebecca Goddard 
Rehoboth Massacre 
Revere, Paul 

Reynolds, Philip 189 

Richardson Bros. 
Richmond, Clarissa 
Richmond, Deborah 
Richmond, Elizabeth 
Richmond, Hannah 
Ripley, Capt. Hezekiah 
Roach, "Father" 204, 

Robinson, Isaac 
Robinson, Rev. Joh 
Rogers House 
Roman Catholic Church 
Rosebud 149, 159 

Rotten Marsh 60, 98 

Rouse (Rose), John 75 

Rowley, Henry 3 

Roxana 245 

Royall House 34 

Royall, Penelope 34 

Ruyg, Chief justice 37, 46 

Russell, George 134,211 

Ruth ~ ' 2S2 



Saffin, John 33 

Sally Badger 251 

Salmond, Agnes 215 

Salmond, John 215 

Salmond, Samuel 215 

Salmond, William 215 

Sampson, Jonathan 245 

Sampson, Sophia 208 

Samuel Clap's New House 101 
Samuel Hatch House 134 

Samuel Soper 158 

Sand Hills, The 237, 242 

Sarah 158 

Sarah Brooks 160 

Sarah Jatie 152 

Sarah's Adventure 157 

Satuit Brook 2, 3, 66, 141, 157 
Satuit House 66 

Saucy Jack 152 

Saxton, Mr. Giles 4, 163 

Schauffler, Robert Haven 213 
Scituate Charity House 244, 251 
Scituate Historical Societv 

45, 85, 135 
Scituate Light 187,245,246 



PAGE 

Seaflower 151 

Seagrave, Rev. Edward 196 

Seaside Chapel 208 

Seaver, Rev. Nathaniel 168 

Seaverns, Henry A. 208 

"Seaward," Richard Hovey 225 
Second Church 169, 170 

Second Church of Christ in 



Scituate 
Second ClifF Beach 
Sergeant Samuel Stetson 

House 
Sewall, Rev. Edmund Q. 



164 
248 



164. 



167 

' 167 

50 

47, 50, 53 

62, 208 



67, 



190. 



Sewall, Judge Samuel 

Sharpless, James 

Sharpless Portraits 

Sherman's Corner 

Shipbuilding 

Shipman, Professor 

Shore Acres 251, 

Sidney 

SirH. Douglas 

Sivret, James 

Slate Island 

Smith, Capt. Joseph 

Smith, Rev. Phineas 

Smith, William 

Smyrna 

Smyth, Rev. Hugh 

Sons of Temperance 

Sophronia 

Souther, Laban 

South Meeting-house 

South Parish 

South Shore House 

South Shore R. R. 

Southworth, Alice 

Southworth, Constant 17,19,226 

Southworth, George 226, 228 

Southworth, Nathan 

226, 227, 228 
Southworth, Thomas (Capt.) 

16, 19, 226 
Spartacus 

Spaulding, Rev. A. D. 
Spencer 

SpofFord, Rev. Luke A. 
Sprague, Jacob 
Spring Brook 
St am bo III 

Standish, Capt. Miles 7, 

St. Andrew's Church 
Stanlev, Capt. Frederick 

254, 256, 259 
Stearns, George 98 



147 
185 
252 
246 
245 
67 
235 
158 
194 
220 
151 
206 
205 
149 
152 
166 
172 
67 
65 
226 



158 
199 
246 
194 
65 
101 
160 
107 
176 



INDEX 



289 



Stearns, R. H. 
Stedman, Isaac 
Stedman Mill 
Stepping Stones 
Stetson, Benjamin 
Stetson, Rev. Caleb 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
Stetson 
11 



PAGE 

98 
134, 210 
27, 60 
218 
21 
174 
Ebenezer 150, 178, 181 
Eunice 21 

Francis Lyntie 22 

Honor ' 22, 98 

John 150, 181, 218 

John B. 22 

Jonah 215 

Jonathan 139 

Lois 21 

Lvdia Barker 178 

Mary Kimball 200 

Matthew 149 

Road 200 

Cornet Robert 4, 10, 
12, 15, 16, 21, 150, 170, 
174, 213, 214 
Stetson, Robert, Jr. 11 

Stetson, Samuel (Sere;t.) 

21, 98, 181, 200, 215 
Stetson, Snow 150 

Stetson, Thomas 21 

Stetson, Timothy 21 

Stetson, Rev. William H. 

200, 202 

Stetson's Tide Mill 218,239 

Stillwell, Marv Carr 48 

St. Mary's, N. B. 83 

Stockbridge, Benjamin 177, 181 
Stockbridge, Benjamin, M.D. 

177, 212 
Stockbridge, Charles 

181,212,214, 217 

Stockbridge, Charles, M.D. 212 

Stockbridge, Charles, Jr., M. D. 

212 

212 

218 

218 

218 

9, 211, 212 

218 

211 

212 

212 

170 



Stockbridge, Emily 
Stockbridge, Hosea 
Stockbridge, Jacob 
Stockbridge, James 
Stockbridge, John 
Stockbridge, Joseph 
Stockbridge Mansion 
Stockbridge, Mary 
Stockbridge Mills 
Stockbridge Pond 
Stockbridge, Remembrance 215' 
Stockbridge Road 45 

Stockbridge, Samuel 

91, 212, 217 
Stockbridge, Thomas 214 



Stony Beach 
Stony Brook Farm 
Stonv Cove Brook 
Storm of 1851 
Stoughton, Rev. John 
St. Paul 

Strawberry Cove 
Strong, Gov. Caleb 
St. Stephen's Church 
Studley, Elizabeth 
Studley Hill 
Sullivan, "Father" 
Sumner, Hon. Charles 
Susan Jane 
Susie Kiffen 
Sutliffe, Sergt. Abram 
Swallow 
Sweet Swamp 
"Swimmin' Hole," Thi 
Sylvester, Edmund Q. 
Sylvester, Elisha 
Sylvester, Israel 
Sylvester, Katie and 

Sylvester, Samuel 
Sylvester, Thomas 
Sylvester, Thomas, Jr. 
Sylvester Wind Mill 



PAGE 

242 

11 
170 
239 

75 
149 

89 

25 
209 
135 

29 
204, 205 

66 
157 
255 

12 
154 

24 

: 218 

215 

216 

124, 216 

Pattie 

200, 202 

151 

216 

216 

217 



149 



134, 

27, 



Talbot, Capt. William H. 
Talbot, Capt. Zephaniah 

200, 215 
"Tan Brook" 29, 64, 140, 207 
Tannery Brook 28 

Tart, Edward 89 

Taylor, "Father" 188 

Thaver, Rev. John 202 

Thaxter, Mary 95, 97 

Thaxter, Sally ^_ 97 

"The Green Bush" 4 

The Trojan 253 

Third Cliff 154, 247 

Thomas, Dr. Francis 123 

Thomas, Frank, M. D. 207 

Thomas, Ichabod 156 

Thomas, Mercy 156 

Thomas, Nathaniel Rav 68 

Thomas, Rev. Nehemiah 

43, 44, 129, 163, 166, 193 
Thompson, Rev. Ebenezer 180 
Thompson, Jane 182 

Thomson, Robert 156 

Thorndike, Israel 136 

Three Friends 156 



290 



INDEX 



PAGE 

205 
215 
215 
215 
215 
56 
114 
114 
265 
114, 218 
265 



214, 



Ticknor Hill 

Tiffany Mill 

Tiffany Pond 

Tiffany, Recompense 

Tiffany Road 

Tilden, Abigail 

Tilden, Hannah 

Tilden House 

Tilden, Job 

Tilden, Joseph 

Tilden, Joseph, Jr. 

Tilden, Jotham 152 

Tilden, Elder Nathaniel 2, 116 

Tilden, Patience 114 

Tilden Road 114 

Tilden, Samuel Jones 116 

Tilden, Thacher 127 

Tilden, Rev. William P. 

53, 56, 108, 153 
Tilden's Point 

248, 250, 255, 258 
Tingley, Rev. Mr. 198 

Toad Rock 234 

Tolman, Capt. Benjamin 28 

Tolman, Mrs. Betsey 201, 202 
Tolman, Elisha 148, 180 

Tolman, Joseph 221 

Tolman, Joseph, Mill 221 

Tolman, Samuel 214 

Tom Corwin 149 

Torrey, Birthplace of Charles 

Turner 140 

Torrey, Caleb 66 

Torrey, Charles Turner 140 

Torrey Clothing Mill 213 

Torrey, David 152, 153 

Torrey, David, Box Factory 222 



Torrey, David, Jr. 
Torrey, Everett 
Torrey, George 
Torrey, George E. 
Torrey, George, Jr. 
Torrey, Howard C. 
Torrey, James 

11,22, 
Torrey, John Day 
Torrey, Josiah 
Torrey, Sally 
Torrey, Vesta 
Torrey, Widow 
Torrey, Willard 
Torrey's Mill 
Torrey's Pond 
Tower, Betsey 
Town Seals 
Town Way 



151 



27. 



220 
220 
153 
220 
152 
220 



152, 213 

68 

126 

139 

220 

11 

220 

219 

236 

161 

262 

16 



216, 



T. P. Perkins 

Trahan, John and Peter 

T. Remick 

Trinitarian Congregational 

Church 
Tufts, Mary 
Turner, Albion 
Turner, Azro 
Turner, Charles 
Turner, Charles, Jr. (Col.) 
Turner, Hon. Charles 
Turner, David 
Turner, David W. 
Turner, Elijah 
Turner, Elijah, Mill 
Turner Farm 
Turner, Humphrey, 



95 

3, 28, 



Turner, Israel 

Turner, James 98, 

Turner, James, Farm 

Turner, James Nathaniel 

Turner, T. Frank 

Turner, John 28, 221, 

Turner, John, Sr. 

Turner, Jonathan 

Turner, Joseph 8, 

Turner, Lemuel 

Turner, "Little John" 

Turner, Mary Ellms 

Turner, Mrs. Mary 

Turner, Melzar 158, 

Turner, Miles 

Turner, Nathaniel 29 

Turner, Perez 

Turner, Philip 

Turner, Samuel 

Turner, Samuel A. 29, 219, 

Turner, Samuel A., Mill 

Turner, William D. 216, 

Turner & Jacobs Nail Mill 

Turner's Beach 

Turner's Meadow 250, 

Two Mile 4, 5, 10, 15, 65, 

Two Stacks 



>AGE 

250 

81 

256 

192 
112 
219 

87 

29 

63 

56 

222 

216 

219 

219 

163 

127 
124 
242 
239 

97 
221 
127 
127 
127 
127 
219 
129 

97 
261 
220 
219 
, 97 
218 
126 
239 
221 
221 
222 
221 
256 
253 
221 
116 



U 

Union Bridge 64, 150 

Union Bridge Road 

107, 170, 171 
Union Chapel, Sherman's 

Corner 208 

Union Hall 163, 189, 190 

Unitarian Society 136 



INDEX 



191 



PAGE 

Unity 157 

Universalist Church, Assinippi 

182 
Upper Parish 164 



Valparaiso 160 

Van Natter, Rev. Mr. 191 

Vassall, Benjamin '2i3 

Vassall, Frances 32 

Vassall, Henry 34 

Vassall, John 30, 34 

Vassall, Capt. John 32, 33 

Vassall, Col. John 34 

Vassall, Judith 32 

Vassall, Capt. Leonard 34 

Vassall, Samuel 30 
Vassall, William 

3, 4, 30, 36, 59, 60, 169, 170 

Vassalls at Belle House Neck 30 

Vassall's Ferry 60 

Vinal, Ann 160 

Vinal, Charles 167 

Vinal, Cushing 190 

Vinal, Capt. Ezra 195 

Vinal, Capt. Henry 158, 160 

Vinal, John 8, 67 

Vinal, Stephen 23 

Vinal, William 157, 158 

Vinal, Capt. William 190 

Vinton's Hall 207 



W 

Wade, Aunt Polly 136 

Wade-Bryant House 137 

W^ade, Eunice 137 

Wade, Joseph 136 

Wade, Nicholas 65 

Wade, Simeon 136 

Walbach, George 254, 257 

Wales, Thomas B. 156 

Walker, Charles 221 

Walker, Quork 38 
Walnut Tree Hill 

12,37, 52, 63, 76 

Wampatucke 17 

Wanton Bury-Ground 77 

Wanton, Edward 11, 75, 150 

Wanton, John 76 
Wanton Shipyard 

75, 149, 151, 156, 247 

Wanton, William 76, 110 

Wantons, The 6 



PAGE 

Ward, Arthur 205, 256 

Ward, Daniel 203, 204 

Ward, \yilliam 257 

Ware, Nicholas 33 

Warren, Mrs. Mercy 49 

Washington 156 

Washington, President 43 

Waterman, .Anthony 157 

Waterman, Ebenezer C. 28 

Waterman, James 28 

Waterman, Capt. Thomas 148 
Waterman, Thomas 28 

Waterman, Thomas B. 148 

Watson, William 62 

"Wayside Inn" 225 

Webb, Capt. Seth 207 

Webb's Island 239 

Weber Charities Trust 209 

Webster, Daniel 68 

Weekly Intelligencer 61 

Welch, E. Parker 

190, 253, 255, 261 
Welch, Michael 189, 239 

Wells, H. G. 39 

" West Newland" 30 

Wetherell, Sergt. Theophilus 8 
Wetherell, Rev. William 16, 170 
Wheeler, Moses 156 

Wheeler, Rev. William W. 182 
Whistler 

Whitcomb, Jonathan 
Whitcomb, Robert 
White, Capt. Benjamin 
White, Gowin 
Whitehead 
White Oak Plain 

101, 103, 121, 219 
White, Peregrine 32 

White, Resolved 32 

White, Sarah 1 14 

White's Ferry 187, 251 

Whiton, Ann 67 

Whitridge, William Cushing 55 
Whittaker 251 

Whittemore, Capt. Isaac 

130, 161 
Whittemore, Dr. Joseph L. 130 
Whitten, Davis 67 

Wight, Rev. Daniel P., Jr 



254 
23 
23, 74 

156 
23 

241 



Wildcat 
Wildcat Hill 
Wilhelmina 
Wilkins, S. F. 
Willet, Capt. Thomas 
Willett, John W. 



194, 195 

103, 121 

29 

248 

241 

16 

202 



292 



INDEX 



William P. Nettleton 253 

Williams, Archbishop 206 

Williams-Barker House 84 

Williams, Capt. John 13, 85 

Williams, Ensign John 23 

Williams, John" 9, 84, 85, 163 
Will James Yard 157 

Wilson, Joseph 240 

Wilson's Hill 170 

Windsor, Fanny 188 

Windsor, Susan 188 

Winslow, Rev. Edward 181 

Winslow, Col. John 154 

Winslow, Maj. John 78, 80 

Winslow, Josias, Sr. 16 

Winslow, Maj. Josias, Jr. (Gov.) 
12, 13, 16, 17 
Winslow, Kenelm 32 

Winslow, Maj. Nathaniel 214 



PAGE 

Winter, John 11 

Witherell, Sally 122 

Wood, Judge Wilkes 126 

Woodworth, Mehitabel 27, 224 

Woodworth, Samuel 195, 223 

Woodworth, Thomas 12 

Worcester Art Museum 85 

Wormall, Joseph 18 

W. Parnell O'Hara 256 

Wrecks on Scituate's Shore 245 

Wright, Edward 11,99 

Wright, John 8 

Wright, Rev. G. W. 191 



Young, Gideon 
Young Turk 
Young's Tavern 



63, 66 

252 
66 



